2011 BB Preview: Fillies And Mare Dirt Sprint
Extended Power went on an incredible run last year, winning nine of her 11 starts, and the capper on that amazing season was her 2010 championship run in the Breeders’ Bowl Filly And Mare Dirt Sprint.
She’s number one on the top 14 list of eligibles so far for the Filly And Mare Dirt Sprint this year. The Kevoman Stables mare is going to have a lot of tough competition if she decides to defend her Breeder’s Bowl Filly And Mare Dirt Sprint title.
Dixiedotco Racing has three on this list, looking for a Breeders’ Bowl win. Walk The Streets, Cole Valley and Space Capsule (one of two three year olds on this list) are all from Dixiedotco.
#1 EXTENDED POWER (KY) Owner: Kevoman Stables
OLDER MARE
The scratch-bred four year old whose breeding includes Unbridled’s Song x Seattle Slew x Nijinsky II started off her career on the turf two years ago, but after three starts there, Kevoman Stables switched her to the dirt and tried to see if she wanted to route. After a couple tries at routing, her connections turned her to the sprints on the dirt back in February of last season, and she really started rolling. She proceeded to reel off seven consecutive wins, including wins in the Grade 3 Priority Princess Stakes, the Grade 1 Priceless and the Grade 1 Exam Stakes. That win in the Exam Stakes–and the 111 speed figure she popped in that race–convinced her connections that she was meant to sprint. Two starts later, she won the Grade 2 Wilted Petals Stakes, and she was Breeders’ Bowl bound. She was sent off as a 13-1 shot there and she won convincingly. She took a couple months off and started off her 2011 season with a bang this year, winning a couple listed stakes and the Grade 1 Sand Castle Golden Sprint. She beat the boys there in her first ever race against the opposite gender. Since then her best finish, as far as speed numbers go, was in the Grade 1 Humane Distaff where she popped a 111 speed figure there. Her speed figures have dipped below the century mark in her last three starts, the first time that’s happened to Extended Power since April of 2010. She had a pretty tough schedule, to say the least, for well over a year now.
#2 KILGALLEN (KY) Owner: Toral Farms
3 YO FILLY
Killgallen looked like she was taking the same route to the 2011 Breeders’ Bowl Filly And Mare Dirt Sprint as Extended Power did last year. She started her career off about the same month (July) as Extended Power did. After a couple of pretty nice tries at a mile in her winning debut and an allowance, the scratch-bred three year old daughter of Awesome Again switched to the sprints, and she’s been absolutely brilliant there. She started popping some really big numbers in the sprints, and she got her first graded win in the Grade 2 Girl Up Front Stakes in Florida. She popped the first triple digit speed figure of her career there (101), and she was off and running in the sprint division. She won her next start, the Grade 2 Stonerstop really impressively, and she popped a career-high speed figure of 107 there. After a couple finishes where she was third and fourth in graded stakes company, that’s about the time her career started looking like Extended Power’s road to the Breeders’ Bowl. She won her first two grade 1’s then. And they were the same ones that Extended Power won last year. Kilgallen won the Grade 1 Priceless and the Grade 1 Exam Stakes. Then she took a couple months off from the races, and when she returned, she ran in the 9 furlong Grade 1 Last Ditch Handicap, her first route race since the beginning of her career. She finished off the board there, although she flashed her characteristic early speed the first half of that race. This filly looks hot coming into the Breeders’ Bowl Filly And Mare Sprint. Throw out that last race. She didn’t like that 9 furlongs in the Last Ditch Handicap. She might just be primed to do exactly what Extended Power did last year, and that’s go to the Filly And Mare Dirt Sprint in November. And she could also be the second three year old to win this event in consecutive years.
#3 SMOKED YA (KY) Owner: Robsscoobi Stables
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Smoked Ya is six years old. She’s run primarily in sprints her entire career, and it might finally be paying off for her. The six year old scratch-bred daughter of Awesome Again has definitely paid her dues in this division, that’s for sure. She’s been running since May of her three year old season, and she’s been doing it quite well. Last year, she had one of the finest seasons of her career, picking up three graded wins. And this year, she’s got three graded wins already with two months left in the season. Could her fourth graded win come in the 2011 Breeders’ Bowl? Well, she just got through running what tied the second highest speed figure of her career (113) in winning the Grade 2 Boom Boom Handicap in New York. The highest speed figure of her career came in May, when she won the Grade 2 Vagabond Handicap in New York. She likes New York a lot. Too bad the Breeders’ Bowl isn’t there. Smoked Ya’s got 15 wins in her 28 career starts, so that’s a pretty nice strike rate she’s got going there. Throw in $1.4 million in earnings, and she might be primed for a Breeders’ Bowl appearance–if her connections decide to send her there.
#4 FLEETWOOD SPARKY (KY) Owner: Elite Racing Stables (Est. Week 236)
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Fleetwood Sparky pretty much punched her ticket to the Breeders’ Bowl in March and April, when she collected the only two graded wins of her career. The four year old daughter of Sky Mesa comes out of a pretty good stakes-winning sprint mare by the name of Separated At Birth, who is a daughter of Distorted Humor. Fleetwood Sparky has only run in six graded stakes in her career. She’s won two, but they were two huge stakes races. Back in March, she won the Grade 2 Long Island Sprint. Then the very next month, she shipped down to Kentucky, where she beat quite a few on this list in the Grade 1 Humane Distaff. That was the highest speed figure race of her career (113). She was a big long shot in both of those events. Then she took off a couple of months, came back to graded competition and finished off the board but did fairly well in the Grade 2 Gleaming Invitational and the Grade 2 Honored Miss. She’s really starting to pick up steam again in her last two starts, both wins in an allowance and a listed stakes event. No doubt she’ll be a long shot if she does go to the Filly And Mare Dirt Sprint, but that’s usually when she does her best running.
#5 CORSICANA (TX) Owner: Lonestar Racing (Texas Division)
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There’s little doubt that Corsicana’s going to the Breeders’ Bowl, with the way her schedule has been set up. The four year old Texas-bred daughter of Seeking A Home started racing last year, and she’s only got 14 starts in her career. But she’s made the most of them. She’s won nine of her 14 starts, and finished second in four. The only race she didn’t finish either first or second was two starts back in the Grade 2 Honored Miss. She started off her career on a hot streak, winning seven of nine starts including a couple of listed stakes. Then in May, she entered graded competition for the first time, and she threw a 108 speed figure while winning the Grade 2 Real Danger Handicap. Two starts later, she became a multiple graded stakes winner when she captured the Grade 1 Princess Looney down in Florida. She beat some pretty nice fillies and mares there. And she also bounced way up in the rankings with that win. She’s only raced once since August and that was a second place finish in an allowance event, where she threw a 106 speed figure. Corsicana is coming into this Breeders’ Bowl extremely well rested, and that tuneup a week ago should have her just about warmed up for the big dance in Kentucky. She’s only got about $460,000 in earnings, but remember she’s only got 14 career starts. Not bad at all for this lightly raced mare.
#6 HEEBIE JEEBIES (KY) Owner: Chilcoat Stables
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Heebie Jeebies is a five-time graded stakes winner out of the Forty Niner mare Sonoma, who also produced another Breeders’ Bowl runner a while back by the name of Cronus a while back. Cronus ran in the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile Turf and later went on to finish second in the 2007 Breeders’ Bowl Turf Sprint. Heebie Jeebies has been around a while, with 42 starts on her resume and those five graded wins. Four of those came when she was on a real hot streak at the end of last year and the beginning of this year. And they came one right after the other. That hot streak started the week after Breeders’ Bowl Day last season. No doubt the shining moment of her career came in the $300,000 Grade 2 Distaff Breeders Bowl Cap back in February. The five year old daughter of Scat Daddy popped a season high 113 speed figure in the race before that, a win in the Grade 3 Leading Lady to start the season. Her speed figures have been on the decline since her win in the Distaff Breeders’ Bowl Cap, and it’s not clear whether or not she’ll make the trip to Kentucky for the Filly And Mare Sprint, since she raced October 15. She’s got her berth on Breeders‘ Bowl Day, if her connections want it though.
#7 AWE STRIKEN (KY) Owner: The Royalstables Of Ostend
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The five year old scratch-bred daughter of Awesome Again was claimed in October of 2009 for $100,000. She was routing on the dirt and turf back then. When The Royalstables of Ostend gave her a two month break, the connections threw her in a dirt sprint to start her off and she showed an immediate jump in speed figure numbers. And now her new connections have her poised to make her first Breeders’ Bowl appearance ever. She’s only run in four graded stakes in her entire career, but she’s won three of them. And she won them when it counted. Back in May, she won the Grade 3 Flying Pig Sprint, and she followed that up with wins in the Grade 2 Gleaming Invitational and the Grade 2 Honored Miss. She beat quite a few on this list during that three-race graded win streak. Then she took a couple months off before returning to the races back on October 1. She used the listed Ms. Burglar Dirt Mare Sprint Stakes then as a tuneup for the Breeders’ Bowl, should her connections decide to run her in Kentucky the first week in November.
#8 ATIA (KY) Owner: Galileo Stables
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She’s four years old, she’s got 23 career starts and about $321,000 in the bank for her connections. Yet’s she’s only run in one graded stakes race in her entire career. Atia, a four year old daughter of Smart Strike, won that Grade 1 Nutcracker with a 113 speed figure back on August 27, and that’s enough to get her on this list at number 8 for the Filly And Mare Dirt Sprint eligibles list. That graded win was sandwiched between a couple of listed stakes win, and if she goes to Kentucky in November, she’ll be going on a four race win streak. You might think one graded win isn’t enough experience to compete in a Breeders’ Bowl event. But look at her speed figures in her last four races. She’s popped 104, 109, 113 and 109 in each of her last four wins, which means she’s getting hot at the right time here for Galileo Stables.
#9 SILVER NOEL (KY) Owner: Silverny99 Stables
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Silver Noel is a four year old daughter of Tiznow who only started racing in January of 2010. Her connections started her off with five consecutive wins, including a win in the 8 furlong Grade 3 Leopard Stakes last season. She tried going routing in two of her next three starts, without much success, so her connections threw her back in the sprints, where she’s found her real success. In her first start after the routing experiment, Silver Noel threw a 101 speed figure in the Grade 2 Quote The Raven Stakes in Eastern Kentucky. Five of her seven starts this year have been in graded events, and while she hasn’t won this year, she’s come awfully close a number of times, finishing on the board in four of those seven starts. Two starts back, she finished second in the Grade 2 Lil’ Leprechaun Dash in Greece, but probably her best performance of the year came earlier, when she finished second in the Grade 2 Davey Jones Handicap in Florida. She popped a season and career high 111 speed figure there. In her last start, it appears she may have possibly been injured in the Grade 3 See The Way Stakes. She was eased in that race. And she hasn’t raced since then. It’s still up in the air whether she’ll be ready for a Breeders’ Bowl appearance.
#10 WALK THE STREETS (KY) Owner: Dixiedotco Racing
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Walk The Streets spent a lot of her career racing–and being highly successful–against open allowance company. Then she started popping triple digit speed figures, and her connections, the prestigious Dixiedotco Racing, decided to try her in graded company this season for the first time ever. The four year old scratch-bred daughter of Street Cry finished third in her first graded start back in March, but she was still popping some really nice speed numbers in her subsequent races. So Dixiedotco put her back in against graded company her last two starts, and she won both. She beat a pretty nice field two starts back in the Grade 3 Iodine Handicap, and then in her last start she beat a really nice bunch in the Grade 2 TOCA Sprint in Eastern Kentucky. She threw 107 and 106 speed figures in both starts. Those two races alone not only accounted for about half of her $684,000 in earnings, but they also got her in the top ten on this list of Filly And Mare Dirt Sprint eligibles. She’s really just started racing in graded company recently, but she’s doing pretty well, and she might be one to watch out for on Breeders’ Bowl Day, should her connections decide to send her there.
#11 COLE VALLEY (KY) Owner: Dixiedotco Racing
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The second lady from Dixiedotco Racing on this top 14 eligible list is Cole Valley, a daughter of Kingmambo who is one of four graded winners out of the Danzig mare Ash Highway. Ash Highway also foaled Pioneer Park, who is a million dollar earner and also top 14 eligible for the Breeders’ Bowl Turf Sprint in 2011. Cole Valley was really successful in the mile division early on in her career, but when she turned back in distance to the sprints, she started popping triple digit speed figures. It wasn’t long before she was running in graded company too, although she wasn’t really successful at first. It took her a while but she finally got her first graded win in April of this year in the Grade 2 Virginia Madison. She came from dead last, and at one point she was 8 lengths off the pace, before she staged a tremendous late rally to just get up at the wire for the win there. She also popped a career high 112 speed figure in that race. She hasn’t won since then, but she’s been racing in some pretty tough company. She’s run in four graded stakes since her win in the Virginia Madison, and she’s picked up checks in three of those races.
#12 SPACE CAPSULE (NY) Owner: Dixiedotco Racing
3 YO FILLY
Space Capsule is the third from Dixiedotco Racing on this list of top 14 eligible for the Filly And Mare Dirt Sprint. She’s a three year old daughter of Cosmonaut who was stakes placed on the turf and dirt as a two year old. She also won a couple listed stakes on the dirt. She tried routing once, in the Grade 2 Camlaw Stakes, but that wasn’t really her forte, so back to the sprints she went. She reeled off four of five listed stakes before she entered graded company for the first time in May of this year. She won the Grade 3 Miss Stallion with the first triple digit speed figure of her career (106). She’s won a couple of listed stakes since then, and she also finished second in the Grade 3 Azalea Special, which was enough to get her to number 12 on this list. She’s never raced against older fillies and mares before, and if she does go in the Breeders’ Bowl Filly And Mare Sprint, she’ll go in with only three triple digit speed figure races on her resume. She’s only got 16 career lifetime starts, but she’s won nine of them, pushing her career earnings to just about the half million dollar mark.
#13 K’S BROKEN DREAM (KY) Owner: Pompeya Thoroughbred Racing Corporation
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K’s Broken Dream went to the big dance last year, finishing second to Extended Power in the 2010 Filly And Mare Dirt Sprint. She’s a six year old daughter of Awesome Again whose career has spanned 35 races, and she’s accumulated over $1.8 million in earnings. She had a terrific season last year before during her run to the Breeders’ Bowl. After she took a three month break before starting this season, she seemed rejuvenated, especially when she got her six career graded win in the Grade 2 Best Flight Stakes in June of this year. It was the last in a three race win streak to start the season, and K’s Broken Dream popped a season-high 111 speed figure in that race. In her three races since then, she’s got one listed stakes win and that came in her last outing. She’s run her last two starts at 6.5 furlongs, which is probably a bit shorter than she would like to go. She loves seven furlongs and that’s what she’ll see if her connections decide to send her to Kentucky for a second try at the big prize on Breeders’ Bowl Day.
#14 FAR AWAY EYES (JPN) Owner: Black Label Stables
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The last girl on the top 14 eligible list as of now is the Japanese-bred Far Away Eyes. You might remember her last year in the Breeders’ Bowl Filly And Mare Dirt Sprint. She was an 18/1 long shot who scared the lights out of the field on Breeders’ Bowl Day after she looked like she was going to score a huge upset. She led the first three calls of that race before giving way to Extended Power and K’s Broken Dream. The four year old daughter of Afleet Alex had only thrown four triple digit speed figures going into that race. But she’s got a lot more experience now, and this might just be her year. She’s got a ton of early speed, and she’s also had a pretty tough schedule this year, running in ten races already. You also might remember her from the 2010 Black Middle Flower Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Tiara. She finished seventh there, before she turned back to the sprints for good en route to the Breeders’ Bowl. Amazingly, she doesn’t have a graded win yet, but she’s come awfully close a couple times this season. And her speed figures are way up from last year. She’s got a ton of listed stakes wins, and she finished second in both the Grade 2 Best Flight and the Grade 2 Dancer Cap. She lost both of those races by a combined length. She’s a pretty dangerous girl coming into this Breeders’ Bowl, if her connections should decide to run her there. It would be really something if her first graded win would come in the Breeders’ Bowl.