The A.P. Prospector Bonanza

In Saturday’s A.P. Prospector Bonanza, eight two-year-old fillies and mares will race one mile on the fast dirt for a purse of $45,000.

1 (2/1) – POISON ARROW (KY) broke her maiden on her first try and has only finished off the board in one start, a stakes race where she came in a very respectable fourth. She followed that up with a win in The Adana Stakes, and then a third-place in the Grade I Frickazee Stakes last month. She consistently runs speed figures in the mid-80s.

2 (6/1) – STAR OF THE SEA (KY) has never finished worse than third in her five-race career. She came up just a little short in her first start, but returned to the track a couple months later and won. She moved right from Maiden Special Weights into stakes races, and she’s demonstrated she can be competitive there. Her last start, in The Horned Ginger Special, was especially impressive – she posted an 83 speed figure there.

3 (7/1) – KENS MYSTERY (KY) put up some nice numbers in Maiden Special Weights and allowance races earlier in the year, but significantly improved on her previous record to win a NW2L allowance in her last start. If the 84 she ran in October isn’t a fluke, she’ll be a force to be reckoned with here.

4 (8/1) – MAXIM T (FR) began her career on the turf, where she broke her maiden and won an allowance race before trying the dirt in The Horned Ginger Special, where she finished sixth (STAR OF THE SEA, also in the field Saturday, was third). It does look like she can handle both surfaces, but she’ll probably need to improve on her previous best numbers if she wants to challenge for the win here.

5 (4/1) – CURSE AND DAMN YOU (KY) was a precocious filly, running very well in her debut in late February. Better yet, she’s steadily improved into the fall, finishing a good fourth in the Grade II Walnut Tree Stakes last month. This field should prove to be softer than the Walnut Tree. She’ll be one of the fillies battling for a win if she can repeat that form.

6 (7/1) – BISHOUJO SENSHI (KY), a Kingmambo filly, is somewhat of a question mark here having never run on the dirt before. She clearly has some talent, consistently running in the mid-70s. However, it’s doubtful that those numbers will hold up here to even hit the board, let alone win. She’ll have to perform significantly better on the new surface to do well in the A.P. Prospector Bonanza.

7 (12/1) – THUNK (KY) didn’t look like a future stakes competitor in her first start – a Maiden Special Weight on turf where she finished last. Fortunately owner/trainer Loveofgame quickly discovered that dirt was by far her preferred surface. THUNK encountered some bad luck in her next races, where she finished third and fourth once, and second three times. Finally, in her most recent start, she broke her maiden. Making the jump from the MSW ranks to a stakes race is ambitious, but this filly does seem to be steadily improving.

8 (5/1) – AGNES KINGDOM (JPN) shone in her most recent start, winning the Alicenwonderland Bonanza. A duplication of that effort will throw her in the mix for sure. With $136,925 in earnings, she is by far the richest horse in the race.