Alien Galaxy, Subtle Favored In Grade 2 Lil’ Leprechaun
The Grade 2 Lil’ Leprechaun Stakes in Greece this weekend will be important for a number of these fillies and mares looking to break into the females dirt sprint Breeders’ Bowl picture this season. Only Alien Galaxy came out of this race in Greece last year to go on and run in last year’s Breeders’ Bowl, and Alien Galaxy is back here again in 2011 hoping another win here will get the 21st ranked female in the older females dirt sprint division back to the big Breeders’ Bowl dance in November. She’ll have some pretty stiff competition here–other ranked females in the division who probably have the same designs on the Breeders’ Bowl as she does. And two of them–Subtle (ranked number 12) and Silver Noel (at number 16)–are ranked higher than the defending Lil’ Leprechaun Stakes champion. Wicked Humor at number 55 (3 year old females) and Musical House, ranked number 57, are also here in Greece this weekend, as well as K’s Seize My Day (ranked number 75) and Just Got Paid (ranked number 99). These four are on the outside looking in, as far as the Breeders’ Bowl picture goes. But hey, you never know. A win here in Greece this weekend, combined with maybe a stakes win or two between now and November, could thrust any of these onto the world stage in the Breeders’ Bowl races in November. Here is the field for the twelfth running of the $150,000 Grade 2 Lil’ Leprechaun Stakes at seven furlongs on the fast dirt course in Greece this weekend. 1 — MUSICAL HOUSE (ARG) Owner: ONEWORLD Stables (rlogans) Odds: 8/1 (Bernstein x French Penthouse (French Deputy x Pentelicus)) Musical House comes out of the turf stakes winning mare French Penthouse, but Musical House has done her best running on the dirt. Musical House comes in here off a win in the 7 furlong Cheyenne Gold Dirt Mare Sprint, where she threw a 106 speed figure there. The four year old daughter of Bernstein will be looking to get her first graded stakes win since 2009, when she won the Grade 3 Arizona Shootout Special as a two year old. She’s got 30 starts in her career so far, with 11 wins and six other in-the-money finishes. She’s shown a proclivity for laying fairly close to the early leaders in her last few starts before she makes her move in the straight for home, and she’ll probably do the same here. She started off her 2011 season with a win in an open allowance event in Kentucky, and she followed that up with a third place finish in the Grade 2 Distaff Breeders Cap in Maryland in February. She came from six lengths off the pace there and used a late rush in deep stretch to get up finish just 1 ¼ lengths off the winner. She threw a 106 speed figure there, too, in that third place finish. 2 — GEORGIA PEACHES (KY) Owner: Empire State Racing (trotter10) Odds: 7/1 (Dixie Union x Carson City x Apalachee) Georgia Peaches is coming in here to Greece off a couple of really good efforts in graded races. The seven year old scratch-bred daughter of Dixie Union has 40 lifetime starts, and she’s either won or been in the money 28 times. That’s pretty consistent, in my book. In her last two starts, she came from way off the pace with a late rush to finish third in the Grade 2 Flying Pig Sprint to finish third back on May 28. Then in her last start, she used that same running style to come from behind and finish fifth (albeit just a length off the winner) in what was a wild finish in the Grade 1 Princess Looney down in Florida. Five lengths separated the winner from the last place horse in that race, and ten of the 11 in that race threw speed figures of 100 or higher. It took a while for the guys in the photo booth in Florida to separate that bunch. Georgia Peaches was running with four females who had won a million dollars or more in their careers in that race, and she beat three of them–which is probably why she’s 7/1 in this spot. She has run with the best this year and done pretty well. She threw a 107 speed figure in that last race, so she’s definitely one to keep your eye on in this spot. 3 — ALIEN GALAXY (KY) Owner: Next Bonus Racing (911) Odds: 6/1 (A.P. Indy x Fappiano x Deputy Minister) Alien Galaxy has been throwing some pretty nice speed figures, too, this year, since her Breeders’ Bowl appearance in 2010. She’s had six of 8 races where she’s thrown triple digit speed figures, and she’s got a couple of stakes wins in the Unpopular (KY) Special Stakes in Rhode Island and the SONG OF DENMARK Stakes in Iowa, where she threw a 108 speed figure to win that event back in January. She also finished second in the Rakida’s Road Stakes after those two wins, before she took on graded company earlier this year. Those two starts were her only sub-100 speed figure races this year, but it looks like she’s back on track now after throwing a 105 in winning an allowance event in West Virginia and finishing third in the St. Paul G Dirt Dash in Mississippi. Alien Galaxy comes in here as the defending champion of the Lil’ Leprechaun Stakes, having won this event last year with a 112 speed figure. She hasn’t thrown anything that high since then. But she is not only the defending champ here in Greece, she’s also one of the co-favorites here at 6-1 along with Subtle, according to the odds makers. She’s a scratch bred daughter of A.P Indy who likes to come from off the pace and make a late rush, so look for more of the same from her here Saturday. 4 — UNPARRELLED (KY) Owner: East Coast Reins (italst4) Odds: 22/1 (Unbridled’s Song x Wild Again x Bold Ruler) Something you don’t see very often in a graded stakes race like this is a four year old with only seven starts coming in. But that’s exactly what you’ll get with Unparalled, a scratch-bred daugher of Unbridled’s Song. She’s been very impressive in those seven starts, however, winning five. And don’t sell this one short, even though she’s 22/1 here. Look at her career, brief though it is. While one of the co-favorites (Alien Galaxy) here in Greece was running in the Breeders’ Bowl races last November, Unparalleled was just getting started, making her career debut down in Argentina a winning one. And it wasn’t long before she had broken the 100 barried in speed figures–three starts to be exact. She took a bit of a dive when she ran in open allowance company in Colorado in her fourth start, but it only took a couple starts before she was back in her winning ways. She wired the first field she ran against in her debut, and she also wired the field the last time out when she won a big $59,000 NW4x field in southern California last time out. She threw a 100 speed figure there, the second time in her career, she’s broken the triple digit speed figure barrier. If she can continue to improve–and we think she can–her early speed can serve her well here in the Lil’ Leprechaun Stakes. She’s got three closers to her inside, so she should have little trouble bouncing out of the gate and getting over to the rail for a ground-saving trip on the lead. She could be dangerous here Her owner is East Coast Reins, and we seriously doubt frankster would put her in graded stakes company running against the likes of these for her first stakes try. Might want to keep a close eye on Unparalleled in this spot. 5 — INSPECT JACK FROST (KY) Owner: Fred & Vienna Stables (vienna) Odds: 21/1 (Henny Hughes x A Touch Of Frost (Montjeu (Ire) x Mr. Prospector)) Another lightly raced female coming in here is the four year old daughter of Henny Hughes, a filly by the name of Inspect Jack Frost. She’s got only 14 career starts so far, but she’s won nearly half (six) of those, and she’s finished second or third five other times, which is pretty darned impressive. She’s a daughter of a Montjeu mare by the name of A Touch Of Frost, who found most of her success in the routes. Inspect Jack Frost was doing very well in her career, bouncing back and forth between the turf and the dirt, and really, she was trying a little bit of everything, having quite a bit of success on both surfaces. She still hadn’t thrown a 100-plus speed figure in her first 13 starts, when suddenly, out of nowhere, last time out, she pops a 108 speed figure in a $46,000 allowance win in Portugal. She beat a very nice older mare there named Shipoopi, who’s thrown triple digit speed figures in her last three starts. She’s 21/1 in this spot, and like Unparalled, this will be Inspect Jack Frost’s first starts in stakes company. And also like Unparalleled, who will be breaking to her inside, this one’s got a ton of early speed, according to her past performance charts. Inspect Jack Frost looked like she was going to run off and hide from the rest of the field last time out in that eye-popping race in Portugal, when she had a five-length lead on that field. She hung on to beat Shipoopi by a half length, and her owners must feel they’re sitting on a live race here with Inspect Jack Frost, if she’s showing up here in a grade 2 for her first stakes try every. Of her $158,000 in earnings so far, $128,000 have come in sprints. With this much early speed, this duaghter of Hennessy could be a live one in this spot. Keep an eye on this long shot. 6 — JUST GOT PAID (TUR) Owner: Shamrock Stables (mtkbps) Odds: 8/1 (Strike The Gold x L.A.’S Fine (Gone West x Seattle Slew)) Just Got Paid is another one here who really needs to reel off a couple of graded wins to get into the Breeders’ Bowl picture. The four year old daughter of Strike The Gold out of the stakes-winning mare L.A.’s Fine is her mother’s biggest earner so far. As a two year old, she appeared to be on the Oaks trail, and she was doing pretty well there, especially after a win in the 8.5 furlong Blazing Saddles Breeders’ Showdown Juvenile Fillies Dirt Stakes and a third place finish in the Grade 3 Santa Jezebel Stakes where she finished third, beaten by only half a length. As a three year old, she ran in a few turf events at 7 and 8 furlongs, one of which she threw the highest speed figure of her career (96) up to that point. In the middle of her three year old season last year, she popped her first triple digit speed figure of her career (104) in a 7.5 furlong allowance, and it became pretty apparent at that point that she would find her greatest success in the sprints on the dirt. And she’s done extremely well in that division. Since coming to the dirt sprints for good, she’s popped triple digit speed figures in seven of her last nine starts. She’s got one stakes win during that period, and that came in the $75,000 7.5 furlong VERA GEMINI (KY) Stakes on a very sloppy track in northern Florida. She threw a 105 speed figure there, and that was the culmination of three wins in four starts. She saw her first graded stakes company in the older female division her last three times out, and her best finish in those came last time out on July 2 in the $150,000 Grade 2 Gleaming Stakes in southern California. She popped a 105 speed figure there in finishing third. The Turkish-bred Just Got Paid can go over the half million dollar mark in career earnings with a win here in Greece Saturday, but more importantly, she’s ranked 99th in the world in the older females dirt sprint division. A win here would boost her chances considerably for a Breeders’ Bowl appearance this year. She’s shown quite a bit of early speed in her races, so let’s look for more of the same from her in this spot. In that last start in the Gleaming Stakes, she was only beaten by two lengths, and the first and second place horses threw 111 and 110 speed figures there. Just Got Paid has shown she can run with the likes of those, and she definitely is a live choice here at 7/1. 7 — SILVER NOEL (KY) Owner: Silverny99 Stables (wildfit) Odds: 7/1 (Tiznow x Send Her On Over (Seeking The Gold x Wild Again)) Silver Noel, a four year old Kentucky-bred daughter of Tiznow, is ranked 16th in this division. So she’s looking for a score here in the Lil’ Leprechaun to boost her chances for a Breeders’ Bowl appearance. And she’s got a very realistic shot to do exactly that this weekend. She’s very lightly raced, with only 16 starts coming in here, having only started racing last season. But she’s won seven of those starts, including a couple of graded stakes wins in the 8 furlong Grade 3 Leopard Stakes and the 7 furlong $300,000 Grade 2 The Quote The Raven Stakes, both of which came last season. She started off her four year old season with a bang, throwing a couple of eye-openers in the speed figure department. She finished third in the Grade 1 Endeavor Stakes, where she blew up to a 109 speed figure. And she followed that up with a career-high 111 speed figure effort in just getting nipped and finishing second in the Grade 2 Davey Jones Stakes down in Florida. She finished fifth in the Grade 1 Humane Distaff Stakes right after that, so her owner Silverny99 Stables dropped her back into listed stakes company, where she finished a very nice second in the 7 furlong Uninhabitable Dirt Mare Dash. Her last time out she raced in a listed turf stakes in Minnesota, where she threw the first sub-100 speed figure start of her career, so her owner has got her back on the dirt in Greece this weekend. She’s one of the few in here who’s seen Grade 1 company–and acquitted herself well–so she’s undoubtedly one of the classier ones in this twelfth running of the Lil’ Leprechaun Stakes. She’s one of a couple in here who are listed at 7/1 by the odds makers behind the two co-favorites, Alien Galaxy and Subtle, so Silver Noel has a very realistic chance of taking this field down in Greece. If she can get back to her beginning of the year form, with those 111 and 109 speed figures, she might do exactly that. 8 — K’S SEIZE MY DAY (KY) Owner: Pompeya Thoroughbred Racing Corporation (bacchus) Odds: 10/1 (Storm Cat x K’ Make No Mistake (Danzig x Seattle Slew)) K’s Seize My Day started off her career on the turf, where she won two of her four starts and popped a couple of 87 speed figures. She’s a daughter of Storm Cat out of the Danzig mare K’ Make No Mistake. And make no mistake about it, this one’s got a lot of speed. She made an immediate impact on the listed stakes trail when she got her first taste of stakes company late in her three year old season and the beginning of her four year old season. She either won and finished second or third in seven stakes races during that time, and she was throwing around some pretty impressive speed figures during that time. At the beginning of her five year old season last year, she reeled off three pretty impressive open lengths allowance wins. That’s when her owner, Pompeya Thoroughbred Racing Corporation, decided to bring her back to stakes company. And he timed it just right. In her first stakes appearance back last year, she popped a 113 speed figure in winning the $85,000 Watson’s Bungholes Memorial Stakes in northern Florida. That came right in the middle of a seven-race win streak that would see K’s Seize My Day run back to her four year old form, where she was popping those 100+ speed figures. It’s possible that she was injured shortly after that when she threw a 36 speed figure and got distanced in a race, we’re not sure. But she’s back and ready to roll now, after she took a three month layoff. Since then, she threw a 97 speed figure in a third place finish in a Danish allowance race before her last time out where she blew up to a 107 speed figure in winning another Danish allowance back on July 23. She tried graded stakes company for the first time here. Pompeya Thoroughbred Racing Corporation wouldn’t put his mare in a race like this unless he thought she was ready, so it’s always good to keep an eye on this barn’s horses. With a 28.7 percent winning strike rate and 61 percent in the money, this barn is probably one of the more impressive in here when it comes to placing its horses in spots it thinks it can win–or at least do well in. K’s Seize My Day fits the bill here, and she just might be ready to seize the day in Greece on Saturday. 9 — HUSSIE DANCE (AUS) Owner: Acarigua Stables (sabremasta) Odds: 56/1 (Hussonet x Native Charger x Turn-To) Hussie Dance just recently broke the $100,000 mark in earnings. And she also did something else recently. And that was race on the dirt for the first time in her last start. After racing exclusively on the turf, this three year old daughter of Hussonet has decided to try the dirt. She popped a pretty massive 89 in her MSW debut as a two year old in September of last season, and her owner threw her right into the stakes fray, where she scored an impressive win in the 7 furlong $95,000 Barb’s Little Lion Memorial Stakes. Next time out in another listed stakes she upped her speed figure a tad to 84, but she finished fifth. Hussie Dance was then dropped back into allowance company where she continued to improve but couldn’t quite find the winner’s circle. She’s got those two out of the gate wins to start her career, and in her seven starts since then she’s been either second or third four times, including two thirds in a couple of listed stakes events. So her owner put her on the dirt last time out, and she was pretty impressive. She popped a 90 speed figure on a surface she had never seen before, and she finished third, beaten only a ¼ of a length in a local-bred allowance race in Tasmania. That was a pretty impressive performance for the scratch-bred daughter of Hussonet. So her owner is really throwing her into the deep end against this bunch here in the Grade 2 Lil’ Leprechaun Stakes. She’s very young, she’s very lightly raced, she doesn’t have much dirt experience, and she hasn’t won since her two year old season. All that adds up to the odds makers listing her as the longest shot in this field at 56/1. One thing about horses should be noted here. They don’t read racing forms, and they don’t listen to the odds makers. Hussie Dance doesn’t know she’s 56/1, but it would take a pretty massive leap for her to be able to run with the likes of these. The fact that she threw a 90 speed figure in her only time on the dirt bodes well for her future on this surface, but she’s racing against a pretty seasoned bunch here in Greece on Saturday. 10 — WINE ME DINE ME (AR) Owner: Cmd Stables (cmd) Odds: 8/1 (Fan The Flame x Asphodel Meadows (A.P. Indy x Mr. Prospector)) Wine Me Dine Me is the Arkansas-bred daughter of Fan The Flame, a stallion this owner likes to use a lot. She’s only got a handful (4) of 100+ speed figures coming into the Grade 2 Lil’ Leprechaun on Saturday, but two of those have come in her last two starts. She threw a 106 speed figure two starts ago in winning a 7.5 furlong allowance event in Michigan, and then last time out she popped a 105 in a 7 furlong $42,500 allowance race in northern Florida, where she made a furious mad dash from near the back of the back and just lost by a head at the wire. She’s been worked hard by her owner this year, having seen the track a total of 12 times already. She won the 7.5 furlong Cane Lois Special Stakes in February of this year, and she followed that up with a second place finish in the Katie’s Scab Memorial Stakes. She popped a 106 speed figure in that win the Cane Lois Special, which equaled her career high speed figure. She’s already got 34 races on her resume so far, and she’s either won or finished in the money 22 times. So her owner definitely knows how to place his horses well while being able to spot them in places where they do well. Wine Me Dine Me is going to have to pretty much equal the speed figures of her last two starts if she’s to have a chance here. And she can do that. There’s no reason in the world she can’t. She’s seen graded stakes company before, so this is nothing new to her. Her big task will be to equal those last two performances in this spot. If she can do that, she should be okay in this spot. 11 — SUBTLE (KY) Owner: Desperado Stables (cheadle) Odds: 6/1 (Elusive Quality x Friday Overload (Dixieland Band x A.P. Indy)) Subtle comes in here as one of the two 6-1 co-favorites in this race, along with Alien Galaxy. And it’s easy to see why. She’s the highest ranked female in the dirt sprint division in this field at number 12, and she’s got nearly $900,000 in earnings in her 33 career starts, 12 of which she’s won. Like Alien Galaxy, she also ran in the Breeder’s Bowl Filly And Mare Dirt Sprint last season. And she’s got a couple common races with a few others in here, including her only grade 1 win of her career in the Everclear Stakes this year. It took this five year old daughter of Elusive Quality seven starts to break her maiden, but if you throw out those first six starts, that leaves 27 starts where she’s either won or been in the money 23 times since she‘s broken her maiden. And she’s been doing it in pretty tough company, having raced an incredible 14 times in graded company since that maiden win. She’s got three graded stakes wins, and a couple other in-the-money finishes in graded events. So it’s no wonder she’s ranked 12th in the world in her division. And it’s also no big surprise that she’s one of the co-favorites here at 6-1. This one has had a very impressive career where she’s got a career high speed figure of 112, and a handful of other races where she’s hovered about the 110 mark. That 112 speed figure came, by the way, in her only grade 1 win in the Everclear Stakes back in January. She’s been unable to equal that performance since then, although she did throw a 101 speed figure last time out in the 7.5 furlong Sahm’s Halo Dirt Mare Sprint, where she got caught up in a speed duel with Devil’s Bride before just losing out to Crystal Dragon, a pretty impressive mare in her own right. Subtle is owned by Desperado Stables, and this barn knows as well as any barn in the game how to spot its horses. Subtle, with all that early speed, would probably prefer to be on the inside when it comes to barrier draws, but if she can bounce out of the gate quickly here and get over to the rail–and not get caught up in a speed duel as she did last time–she could win this thing. Horses from this barn are always dangerous, no matter what level they race at. Keep your eye on Subtle in this spot. She could very well have this one won under wraps–if she can get back to her beginning of the year form. 12 — PICKIN’ WINNERS (KY) Owner: Denovo Stables (denovo) Odds: 8/1 (Fusaichi Pegasus x Secretariat x Storm Bird) Denovo Stables sends out Pickin’ Winners here in Greece on Saturday. She’s a five year old scratch-bred daughter of Fusaichi Pegasus who took a while to break the triple-digit speed figure barrier in her career. But 13 starts and a little over two years into her career, she did it–and she did it in a big way, popping a 110 speed figure in a Louisiana allowance event she got head-bobbed out of a win at the wire. She won her first stakes race shortly after that when she scored in the 6.5 furlong Jason Blake Challenge in the Washington, DC. She popped a 109 speed figure in that race in June of 2009, and it was a race that would start a pretty impressive string of three consecutive wins that was ended by a second place finish in her first graded stakes try–the $100,000 Grade 3 Blueberry Stakes in Ottawa where she threw a 107 speed figure. She tailed off a bit after that before her next win, which would come in the 6.5 furlong Battlefield Earth Stakes, where she threw a 109 speed figure back in September of last year. It would be a while before she would see the winner’s circle again. But when she did, she would do it in impressive fashion. Two starts ago, she won pretty impressively in an 8.5 furlong $52,000 allowance event in Indiana, and last start out she got back to those massive speed figures once again in a mile open allowance event in Indiana, where she threw a 109 speed figure. Those last two starts where her only forays outside the sprint division. Considering that she likes to bounce out to pretty big leads before coming back to the field at the end, it makes a lot of sense for her to be running here in the 7 furlong Grade 2 Lil’ Leprechaun Stakes in Greece on Saturday. She’s got a lot of early speed and the shorter distance she’ll see here should be much more to her liking than her last two starts. She’s 8/1 here, and she’s got a really good shot of scoring here. Watch out for Pickin’ Winners on Saturday from Denovo Stables. Tons of early speed here. 13 — OIL ON TOP (KY) Owner: The Big Oil Conglomerate (Ft. LordPye) (dimitri) Odds: 13/1 (Unbridled’s Song x A.P. Indy x Northern Dancer)) Oil On Top is a four year old scratch-bred daughter of Unbridled’s Song. She’s pretty impressively bred with A.P. Indy and Northern Dancer back there, and it’s showing on her past performance charts. With only 11 career starts, she’s either won or been in the money nine times in her brief career that started back in November of last season. She’s only got a couple of 100+ speed figures so far in her career. And those came in two of her last three starts. She popped a 105 speed figure in a $52,000 open allowance event on May 28 in Portugal, and she followed that up with an extremely impressive run in the $250,000 7 furlong Grade 2 Delta Tau Chi Sprint Stakes in Nebraska on July 2. She popped a 109 speed figure there, her career high. She came from almost dead last in that race before just missing at the wire, with a furious rush in deep stretch. Her last start she dropped back below the 100 speed figure mark in a 6 furlong open allowance event in Michigan, where she finished fourth–again with a late rush from the back of the pack–beaten only by a length in a wild finish in that one. She loves to come from way back, so the 13 barrier she’s drawing here shouldn’t be a huge disadvantage to her. She’ll likely just drop back behind the pack and head for the rail early and try to get a ground saving trip on the rail before she makes a massive move late–a move she’s becoming well known for. The only concern here is the quick turnaround from her July 30 start, but if she’s ripe and fresh for this one, and she doesn’t encounter any traffic problems, Oil On Top has a very realistic chance here in Greece on Saturday. She’s 13/1 in this spot, and she’ll no doubt be coming on strong late in this field. Might be one to keep your eye on here, as she tries graded company for the second time in her short career. 14 — WICKED HUMOR (KY) Owner: Twoofus Stables (2ofus) Odds: 44/1 (Distorted Humor x Battle Music (Unbridled’s Song x War Chant)) Wicked Humor is by Distorted Humor out of the Unbridled’s Song stakes winning mare Battle Music. She’s only three years old, and she’s got a couple of seven-furlong stakes wins on her resume already, after trying the routes early on in her career. She’s yet to break the triple digit speed figure mark in any of her 13 starts, but she’s finished in-the-money in nine of those 13 starts, winning four. The thing that pops out at you when looking over Wicked Humor’s past performance charts is that of those 13 career starts, 12 have been in stakes races. So, the fact that she skipped over the allowance conditions and went right to stakes company–and stayed there–and finished in the money nine times is pretty impressive. She’s flirted with the 100 speed figure mark a couple times, throwing 96’s. She’s faced graded company twice already, albeit never in the sprint division. For as young and inexperienced as she is, she’s been doing fairly well with this grinding a schedule. She might be in a little over her head with this bunch in Greece on Saturday (at least the odds makers think so) at 44-1, but the fact that she’s at least raced with these type of horses bodes well for her. It would be nice to see some triple digit speed figures here coming into this race, but if her owner thinks she belongs here, then she belongs here. She’ll be breaking out of the 14 hole, and that’s always tough in a sprint stakes race. Let’s not forget. Wicked Humor is ranked number 55 in the 3 year old female division, and that’s not bad for only 13 starts–at all.