Grade I Movieland Starlet
Race ID:3791.0114
Grade I Movieland Starlet –
Fourteen top notch two year olds fillies hope to be movieland’s leading starlet in today’s contest. Grab a cup of coffee and ponder today’s field with me.
1. INDIAN LADDER – Trainer pointblank has ambitiously placed this Thunder Gulch daughter in today’s race after a lackluster effort last out in the GR Simsters Juvenile Fillies residency race where she finished a solidly beaten 9th, 11 lengths off of the leader. That being said if she bounces back to the form she displayed two back in the Grade 2 Walnut Tree Stakes over this very track she will be in contention to pick up a share today. She displays an electric come from behind running style when she fires so if she gets a good trip perhaps she will be making a big late move to mow down the field.
2. RISEN WARRIOR – A.P. Warrior filly has only a Maiden score back in July on her resume in the win column but she has been fairly consistent with four 2nd place finishes as well. She may find her best form as a 3 yr old and possibly even on the grass so despite being 18-1 I am going to have to seek others who are more accomplished.
3. LA GALERNA – Trainer Fernando has been patient with this royally bred Unbridled’s Song who has been running good but taking some time to clear her conditions. Last out she had a smashing breakthrough in an off track allowance race where she won by 3 3/4 and I would give her a serious look if the track was forecasted to be less than fast. But alas mother nature has not cooperated so while I am intrigued by the pedigree and despite her being a bit of a wild card I will seek my winner elsewhere.
4. RAILWAYS – Pwong01 has a lot to be proud of for what has been accomplished by this daughter of Rail Link who won a spot into the coveted Breeder’s Bowl Juvenile Fillies race. She failed to fire in that race and finished 11th but her performance in that race appears to have been an anomaly as she has finished first or second in her previous 4 races including a big late run in the Grade 1 Frickazee Stakes at today’s distance. Look for her to be plodding along mid pack and seek to make her move when the front runners are gasping for air at the ¾ pole.
5. GORILLA MONSUN – Daughter of Monsun is living up to her name as she has been a beast on the track thus far. After a solid 2nd in her debut she has reeled off 5 straight wins the last two of which were open stakes scores. She tries graded company for the first time today but with her solid foundation it should be just one more step on the path to future stardom. Trainer knowlton really has done a good job with this one and I am really intrigued to see how she develops and just wonder what kind of turf runner might she be as well, but there is no time to dwell on that with such proven dirt ability.
6. MEGATEX – This daughter of Pivotal must have trainer Fatattack shaking his head. Bred to be a titan on the turf (a scratch Pivotal X Sadler’s Wells X Secretariat) she won her debut back in June but then failed to progress speed figure wise in two subsequent turf efforts. To shake things up she ran on the main track on November 1st and found it much to her liking scoring a 1 ½ length victory and besting her lifetime best speed figure by 8 pts. She is taking a big leap from that allowance score today but stranger things have happened and she is 1 for 1 on dirt.
7. SEISMIC ACTIVITY – Big Cheese Racing (love it) brings us this Aptitude filly who is 8-3-2-1 lifetime. The biggest test of her life was back in July at Smackdown and she did not disappoint running a solid 4th in a loaded field. She has won 2 of 3 allowance races since then and I am intrigued to see how she does in today’s race. At 10-1 she is one of the intriguing shots with upside in this race.
8. KALIMA – I love seeing horses by sires I am not very familiar with and this filly by Librettist (by
9. SORT OF A DEAL – If you are looking for the Rocky Balboa type underdog of today’s field look no further. Sort of a Deal’s pedigree is a very pedestrian Sort It Out X Tree X Notebook so her connections deserve major credit for creativity. She started out her career winning a 5000 maiden claiming race which is amazing seeing her on this big stage after such a humble start. She has been consistent but non spectacular since then and has earned just 13k for her career. A win here would inspire the Rudy’s and the Rocky’s the world over…
10. SAKI TO ME – With her name I was expecting a different sire and was fooled because Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus is her sire. Despite having an open stakes win on the main track this filly has done most of her best running on turf where she is 3-2-1-0 including a nice open stakes win. Her speed figures are a big point of concern as she has failed to top an 80 speed figure and will need to be much much faster to win today. She’s a dual surface open stakes winner but looks to be up against it unless she thrives at trying routing for the first time which is definitely possible given her pedigree.
11. WESTMEAD FUSAICHI – Pigeon1 brings us the 2nd daughter of Fusaichi Pegasus in today’s race and I really have my covetous eyes on this gal. She has 5 wins in 6 lifetime races including a four in a row win streak. Her last race was an 8 furlong open stakes victory in
12. MEGEYEV – Medaglia D’oro filly has never finished out of the money in 6 career starts and made a big speed figure breakthrough last out by besting her career high by 9 pts in an impressive win. She deserves respect here and exotic bettors would be ill advised to ignore her consistency. Her dam Dusty Groom has been a good one producing 3 million dollar earning graded winner Daneye so the family has proven talent that must have trainer theatrical thrilled.
13. POINCIANA – Rafa Stables have run this Speightstown filly aggressively as she has hit the track 5 times since her debut in July. She has been a good one finishing ITM in all but one race and her 89 speed figure last out in the 8 furlong Cryptoskeleton Stakes puts her in the mix today. With the lack of early speed in this race her trainer must be tempted to try to get her on the front end and steal the day since she has shown some ability to run on the front.
14. BLACKWATER BAY – What do you get when you add up a stellar name, an AP Indy pedigree, a perfect 4 for 4 and a top notch trainer? Well you get
Prediction: This is one of the first races I have reviewed that I could not really find a legitimate frontrunner so the pace scenario is going to be interesting to see. I am hard pressed to go against the odds-makers so my top two are Gorilla Monsun and