About ten years ago, a long time removed from living in <\/SPAN> My hometown shares a lot of the responsibility for giving <\/SPAN> The connection extended to the race named after my hometown, which I believe (but I\u2019m not certain) is the smallest town to have a graded race named for it.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>A simple little handicap at first, it\u2019s now a Grade III race that usually gets lost on one of the fall championship meet\u2019s big event cards.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The fields have never been huge, with the biggest field being seven older fillies going six furlongs, but the race has produced some of the top distaff sprinters of recent times.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>You may not find an Xtra Heat, but the race has attracted Grade I winners such as Twist Afleet (won the Test and this race), Carson Hollow (won the Prioress and this race), Finder\u2019s Fee, Shine Again, Raging Fever and Molto Vita, to say nothing of the other graded winners racing in this spot at one time or other. Since there\u2019s a Mike\u2019s Hometown Handicap every Bluegrass Derby weekend in the Sim, and since there\u2019s not one for my hometown in the Sim, and since I\u2019m all for making my Sim experience more enjoyable, I bought a race, theoretically for my fillies, this same weekend as the real thing.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Ergo, we have this week\u2019s $125,000 Grade III CVBear\u2019s Hometown Handicap<\/B>, a six-furlong, six-figure sprint for older distaff sprinters.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Where the real-life counterpart usually has a small, if usually esteemed, field, I\u2019m ecstatic to report that the Sim race is overflowing with some of the best older fillies and mares that sprint for a living.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>It\u2019s very gratifying to see so many of the top 20 sprinters in the division taking a run at my little race… …even as I don\u2019t have an entrant myself; the horse I bought this for has gotten hot in another division, so she races elsewhere this weekend\u00a0and I\u2019m content to watch the action from the side.\u00a0 Here’s t<\/SPAN>he field for this new Grade III: Sioux City Slew<\/SPAN><\/B> [Avenue Of Flags-City Wrapping, by Slew City Slew, trained by tiznow<\/I><\/B>] is ranked #66.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>This is her fourteenth start, and she seems to favor a modest stalking approach, never falling more than six lengths back in each of her six victories.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Her debut in graded company over this track didn\u2019t go as planned when all she could do was pass tired horses to wind up seventh, and this field here is very much stacked, with seven of the twelve fillies entered among the top 20 filly sprinters.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>There figures to be a lot of speed, so her running style shouldn\u2019t be considered a minus, and the turning-back in distance figures to help.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Still, six-and-a-half panels is her preferred distance, and her speed figures place her in the middle of the pack.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>An off-track would help. Canadian Gold<\/SPAN><\/B> [Touch Gold-Buda In The Bar, by Gone West, trained by pher<\/I><\/B>] is ranked #18 among three-year-old filly sprinters.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>A newcomer to older competition, she\u2019s got six wins from twelve starts, including a Grade II win back in May over this track.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019s versatile enough to go to the lead as desired, or sit chilly and come late, and she gets a somewhat-underrated jock in the irons for her coming-out against her elders.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Lastly, she\u2019s coming off a mediocre performance in the Grade I Exam over this track last time, which was over a wet track, so the shift back to a fast one should be to her liking.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Now, for the bad news: she hasn\u2019t cracked the 100 speed barrier yet, though her Grade II win got her to a 99.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Six furlongs figures to be just a touch short for her (and her pedigree).\u00a0 <\/SPAN>And with a load of talent here, she\u2019ll need the race of her life to keep pace with the more talented closer here. Uninhabitable<\/SPAN><\/B> [Capote x Vice Regent, trained by phartlap<\/I><\/B>] is ranked #67 among the older distaff sprinters.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Talk about getting your house in order: this filly cleared her allowance conditions with relish last year, but finally started to win stakes races over the summertime.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>While her speed figures haven\u2019t quite been as contentious as others in here, she\u2019s shown consistency, with three straight triple-digits in her last three efforts.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019s also versatile enough to either go to the front or come from the back, but lately she\u2019s preferred a strong stretch run.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Her last in the Grade I Dancer had her gaining on the leader while losing position late; take that as ye might.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She likes the distance, but might be better off hanging closer to the front here. Kacymygirl<\/SPAN><\/B> [Macabe x Silver Ghost, trained by nj50<\/I><\/B>] has the highest sprint ranking here, at #6.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Her sire is a definite bargain on Saturdays, but her success should ideally elevate his status also.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019s exploded this year, with three graded wins in 2006, and four in her career.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>But that success can be telling in this spot: all the graded victories were at seven furlongs, not six.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>But she\u2019s still talented going six panels, with five wins in eight starts at the distance. \u00a0<\/SPAN>She\u2019s speedy, to be sure, and should have the lead outright, if not alone, here should she want it.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Turning back might be the key, as she faded over this surface in the Dancer last out, but she\u2019ll face less intense pressure up front, ideally.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019s run the best speed figures of her life this year, with a high of 112 in the Distaff in the springtime.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>If she has enough in the tank without a lot of competition while leading the pack, she\u2019ll be a tough customer. Explosive Storm<\/SPAN><\/B> [Storm Cat x <\/SPAN> Crafty Thief<\/SPAN><\/B> [Cat Thief x Crafty Prospector, trained by kevoman4<\/I><\/B>], is #71 in the distaff sprint category.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019s a graded winner from the summer of 2005, and usually likes a hand in how the pace plays out up front.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>But she\u2019s only cracked the 100-barrier once in her career, with a 104 in an allowance win late last year.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Still, her four-year-old campaign has been reasonably consistent, as she\u2019s won four of her last seven, and finished second the other three times.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019s a stakes winner this year, that coming last time out, so she knows what it takes to be sharp at a higher level.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Yet, she still seems a little bit dull here, because even though her recent speed figures are fair, they fall a little short of the leaders in this Grade III event.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Expect her to continue to press the early pace, but expecting a lot more requires a wait-and-see approach.\u00a0 <\/SPAN> Aim For The Moon<\/SPAN><\/B> [Woodman-Jimenez, by High Yield, trained by teamfoppa<\/I><\/B>] is ranked #20.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>An even third in the Dancer last out, she tries basically the same field here, with many refugees from that race trying again.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She likes to stick pretty close to the lead, but there\u2019s an awful lot of that going around here.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She can hang with these, as her speed figures and her second in the Flying Pig earlier in the summer can attest, but she has been spotty more recently, throwing in a couple of clunkers in-between strong runs.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>This race will show whether she can maintain consistent performances from one race to the next.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019ll have plenty of company in mid-pack, but the 105 last out in the Dancer aside, she\u2019ll need an extra kick late to compete for a money slot. Dublin Lass<\/SPAN><\/B> [Storm Cat x Mr. Prospector, trained by dublinlad<\/I><\/B>] is ranked #8 in the division.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She\u2019s exceptionally bred for these sprints, and is usually the quickest from the gate when hitting the big time.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>And she\u2019s probably the best pure six-furlong filly among these, with five wins and a third in six starts at the distance.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>But can she compete against a strong field of distaff sprinters such as these?\u00a0 <\/SPAN>And will she be first from the gate here?\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The latter question is more intriguing, as Kacymygirl<\/B> is also one who likes to have the lead from the opening bell. \u00a0<\/SPAN>In their only meeting to date, the Flying Pig, Dublin Lass <\/B>won the battle, but it was a Pyrrhic victory (a victory that comes at a price, that is); while Kacymygirl<\/B> never fired, Dublin Lass<\/B> faded late in the race to wind up third.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>This race being a furlong longer, things might change up, but this filly can hold her own up front.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>A speed duel might prove to be too volatile for either, but with a graded win under her belt, a constant stream of three-digit speed figures and a high division rank, the Lass should not be counted out here. Belle Of Broadway<\/SPAN><\/B> [A.P. Indy-Duke\u2019s Prospector, by Mr. Prospector, trained by dora<\/I><\/B>] is #19.