Slew Ledwith fave in British Columbia feature
British Columbia– A short field of four fillies and mares three years old and upwards takes to the British Columbia grass course Saturday for the $70,000 Their Duke Stakes. The inner turf course came up firm for this 1 1/16 mile distaffer purse.
Oddsmakers give a slight edge to Sledwith’s Slew Ledwith (6/5). The grand old racemare must be one of the few remaining daughters of Seattle Slew still on the Sim racetrack. Indeed, the 8YO mare leads the field in the experience department at least twice over: Slew Ledwith makes her 45th career start this week. But don’t let her age deter you from an honest bet. On the contrary, Slew Ledwith can still pick up her feet. She currently rides a 4-race win streak. All of those victories though came in the ALW level versus 5yo+ bid company. Additionally, the mare stretches out from her normal 7.5 furlong distance. She has a very nice route record though, having earning over $200k around two-turns ($300k in sprints). Bottom line, she’ll find herself rallying over an extra furlong, so we’ll see if she enjoys the change.
The other elder mare in the field is the 4yo filly Ello Puppet(JPN) (4/1). Trainer Superdaddy hopes that this Rock Of Gibraltar daughter gets some pace up front. Ello Puppet also leaps up from the ALW ranks. She won several starts back in slow time and even placed in a 10.5 furlong stakes purse. However, the filly has been unplaced for two starts now in proper ALW conditions over a grassy mile. Even though she doesn’t appear like much on paper, ‘Puppet should enjoy the short field and you can easily see her vying for the lion’s share. Top jockey B Bauder in the irons sure helps.
A pair of sophomore fillies round out our field. Verywide’s Orogeny(TUR) (9/5) makes her lifetime debut over the green stuff. The Mountain Cat starlet was a stakes winner earlier this season over the main track. It looks like she’s suffered from soundness issues though and trainer Verywide has had to be very patient with her. Orogeny won two straight ALWs over a mile with 100+ SP#s in late summer before throwing a forgettable effort in the Gowader(G2) over 8.5f. Bottom line, Orogeny can get the distance no problem and has the pedigree to fancy the grass too. Great spot for an experiment and will probably be your winner if she can handle the surface switch.
Given2’s Smokepole(KY) (5/2) brings an impressive 11-for-15 ITM record to the table. The El Prado(IRE) filly was a stakes winner over this distance early on this year. Those victories came versus short fields though. Smokepole never went forward afterwards and it looks like she too may have suffered from soundness issues. The filly did win a couple ALWs though in miler company. Let’s see if she can finally break through the 100 SP# barrier on 5 weeks rest.
Orogeny should take this one wire to wire if she enjoys the grass. If not, then perhaps Smokepole can edge out Ello Puppet at the wire. We’ll see if Slew Ledwith can stretch out again at this point in her career.