Three year old fillies battle it out in Don’t Miss Handicap

Three year old fillies will try to sprint their way to stakes glory in this week’s Don’t Miss Out Handicap. The race is set to run over six and a half furlongs of firm turf and it carries a $45000 purse. This is the fourth annual running of the stakes, and the field here is quite comparable to the earlier runnings of this race. Small fields and tight odds are the order of the day, with no filly ever entering the race at worse than 6/1 odds. This is another Virginia race where the favorite has never seen the winner’s circle in the three previous runnings. Last year’s event was won by Laffy Taffy(KY), who took a field of four gate to wire to hold on to a one length victory. This year’s running sports a field of five, and once again the odds are tight in this short field. The favorite goes off at 9/5, with three others at 7/2 or better. The longshot weighs in at a short 6/1 odds. Looks like another slim week at the betting windows this week, but it looks like an exciting field for race fans to watch.

PP 1) Lost Project(KY) Sired by Bernadini, Trained by tflyer. Lost Project(KY) makes her eighth career start here, and she enters this one as the race favorite behind back to back allowance wins. This will be her second try at stakes racing, and she is looking for her first victory at this level. Her first seven starts have seen her run to a 4-1-0-1-1 record, with a top speed of 94.0 earned two starts back. Her last race was an A3x at this distance in Georgia, where she ran away from a field of eleven down the stretch to earn a length and a half victory. Six of seven starts have been on turf, and she has tried distances from six to eight furlongs. She has won both of her turf starts at this distance, with her other two victories coming in longer races. As the three year old crop matures this year, she like to run from the head of the midpack, and she has run textbook examples of that style in her last two starts, striking from two and a half lengths out at the half. The majority of this field runs the same type of style, so she will most likely find herself closer on the lead in a dogfight as they cross the half here. She has been steadily improving this season, and her last two starts have been her career best. If she continues that trend here, she could justify the oddmakers’ faith, and be the first favorite to bring home the gold in the race.

PP 2) Etrusca(ENG) Sired by Medicean(GB), Trained by 2aussie. Etrusca(ENG) takes the gate for her twelvth career run here. She boasts two prior stakes victories, as well as the highest speed figure in this field. Her eleven career starts have resulted in a 4-3-2-1-0 record, with her speed numbers topping out at 97.4 in her first start of this year. Her last start was in a seven furlong stakes in Massachusetts, where she fell to the deeper closers down the stretch, finishing third in a field of five. After starting her career passingly well on dirt, her last eight have been on the grass, where she has missed the top three only once. She has tried distances out to eight furlongs, but this has been her payday distance range, with three wins and a place in four starts. She generally favors a stalker’s pace, and she has been at her best when she can stay right on the early leaders. She drops back in distance here for the first time since late last season. She had a three race winning streak before stretching things out, and the rollback here could help get her back on track. If she can turn things around and show the speed she is capable of she will be a serious threat in this race.

PP 3) Gold Giant(AUS) Sired by Made Of Gold, Trained by phenomenon. Gold Giant(AUS) is stepping to the track for her tenth career race here. She makes her first try at stakes here, coming in off an A2L victory last out, her second in a row. She brings in a record of 2-6-1-0-0 from her first nine, with a best speed figure of 86.1 coming in her last start. She last ran in a seven furlong A2L in Utah, where she took a field of ten wire to wire for a length and a quarter victory. All nine career starts have been turf sprints, and she has handled herself well at anywhere from six to seven furlongs. She is 1-4-1 in this distance range in her six starts. She likes to run from the haed of the midpack, but she is not afraid to get in there and mix it up early. In her nine starts, though she has not faced a field of this class, she has never finished more than two lengths out at the wire, and three of her second place finishes have been by a head or less. The speed she posted in her last was her career best by nearly seven points, and the question is whether she is beginning to blossom, or if this was just one of those anomalies. I’ll withhold judgement here until I can see if she can duplicate that run in this stakes field.

PP 4) Flying Kitty(KY) Sired by Storm Cat, Trained by bigjet. The regally bred Flying Kitty(KY) sees action in her thirteenth career start here. She has one prior stakes win, coming last October. Overall for her twelve starts, she has put up a record of 2-2-4-1-2, running a best speed of 88.3 late last season. Her last run was in an eight furlong stakes on a tough New York track, where she never found her legs, and trailed a field of five home by nine and a half lengths. After starting of on dirt, her last seven have been turf runs and she seems to have a preference for the softer surface. This will be her shortest race since last June, and her shortest ever on turf. The drop in distance may be good for her here, as her best runs have been in the seven to seven and a half range on the grass, fading slightly as she goes longer. She likes to run as a deeper closer, and her close has been fairly good, though it has not been much in evidence in her three starts this season. She was having trouble getting back in the longer races, and this shorter sprint may work to her benefit here. Also on the plus side here is the fact that she is the only true closer in the field, and there is no real fireball up front to bury her too deep too early. If she can find a bit more speed in this sprint, she could surprise in a race that looks to be an early battle up front.

PP 5) Gossiper(KY) Sired by Andromeda’s Hero, Trained by legacy. Gossiper(KY) will make start number nine in this race. She has a field high three prior stakes victories, coming in her last three starts of last season. She boasts a 4-3-1-0-0 in her first eight, posting a best speed number of 89.9 two starts back. Her last race was a stakes at this distance in Illinois, where for the first time in her young career, she found herself well behind the lead early, and she seemed to just give up, finishing a long out third in a field of five. She has never been off the turf, and her record speaks for itself. So far she has specialized in this distance range, with six of her eight starts coming in this range, and she has three wins, never finishing out of the top three. She generally runs a stalker’s pace, and she has no aversion at all to an early duel up front. There’s a good possiblity here that she will be the front runner early, but she is not likely to open up much of a cushion, with the bulk of the field here right on her heels. If she does have that lead early, she has a very good shot at a piece of the trifecta here. She will need her best though to take this field gate to wire.