Who Is Fastest in Quick Cap?
The parade of juveniles continues with another set of 2yo stakes this week. While the spotlight is on the grade 1 event for fillies, ten other fillies who are not quite ready for routing are set to clash in the $75,000 Quick Cap Special at 6 furlongs on the main track.
On the rail is Granny’s Wildcat, trained by winspecial. The daughter of Forest Wildcat hated the turf in her first start, but put on the dirt, she wowed them with an dominating victory in Upper New York, earning an 81 SF for the 5 ½ furlongs. The extra 1/16th should suit, but gets a class test and a low percentage jock. On the other hand, that first start ballooned her odds to 15/1, so this red-gold chestnut offers some real value here. The Barb stables are a stalwart of the DelPenn residency, and the conglomerate sends out two juveniles to compete here: Barb’s Cell Phone and Barb’s Fever. Cell Phone is a speedy filly who is bred to sprint, by Phone Trick out of a Forty Niner mare. In three starts, she has won only once, but has topped the 70 SF in each of her races. It’s hard to tell whether the extra distance will help or not, but her connections know their stuff, which makes her dangerous. Fever gets parked on the outside, but the Storm Fever miss gets Ian Wimpy aboard, so that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The coppery chestnut has been steadily closing in shorter, so the distance will suit. That said, her speed figures have been a bit lighter than some of the other, more-favored entries in the field. Would be curious to see what she can do on turf, as both her dam and her stakes winning half-sister have been more effective on that surface, but is capable of the surprise here.
You have to like Bow to Me even if you’re not quite ready to bow to her. Proxy’s golden beauty is a perfect two for two, including an impressive allowance score with an 80 SF. The filly’s “dam” was a stakes winner at three and Grade 3 placed as a juvenile on the turf, but could also handle the main track. The daughter of Elusive Quality looks primed for another big run, this time with the reliable Ted Crow at the reins. Alluring Niner G is looking to become the bride, rather than the bridesmaid, after two straight seconds in stakes races here at Delaware. The zz homebred is reunited with Herbert Ross, with whom she was second (80 SF) in the Sashina Memorial at this same distance. The main concern with this beautifully bred daughter of Forty Niner is that six furlongs appears to be simply too short for her. I’d love her to try seven furlongs, or better yet, a flat mile. Still, Alluring has the class to pull this one off.
Blushing Bianca has tried a variety of surfaces for alfaari – dirt, slop, turf, fast – and yet her first performance was her best. After sparkling in her debut with an 81 SF over 5 ½ furlongs, she’s never really progressed from there. The only other time the Bianconi miss ran on a fast dirt track, she was sixth in the Grade 3 Spirit of Texas Stakes, with a 78 SF. Not sure she’s shown that she wants to go much further than five furlongs, but the cutback in distance and fast track should help, so she’s got a legitimate shot here. La Mambo Bbor has been a bit of a puzzle for wahoo2, as it isn’t really clear what distance this headstrong chestnut wants. She has the talent, but has yet to put it all together. Clearly her connections are hoping today will be the day. Clk2000 has So Cold. Winner of her debut, the Siphon filly tired badly at 6 ½ furlongs against stakes company, but then switched tactics last time out to come from off the pace. It’s hard to gauge how that worked, because while she closed, it was only a 4 horse field. If Cisco can get her to rate early, this might be a better test of those tactics. Daedalus’ Yield a Ton faces easier after going a mile against the boys last time out. The daughter of High Yield looked good in her maiden win, going five furlongs (73 SF), and while this field is no picnic, she should make a better account of herself here. Lone stakes winner in the field, and relatively dismissed at 8/1 is Tiger Story. The princeton trained daughter of More Than Ready won the Crafty Diana at this distance two starts back (76 SF). I suspect it will take a faster time to win this one, but she clearly likes this distance, cuts back from 6 ½ furlongs and gets the savvy Silver in the irons. Lots to like about this one, even if some of the up and comers look dangerous. Good luck to all!