The field is deep in Saturday’s Grade 1 Birmingham Stakes, a pricey $750,000 affair for sophomore fillies at the classic distance of 10 furlongs on the dirt.\u00a0 Three top-ten fillies will line up and the track handicappers are ambivalent, setting cofavorites Black Tuesday<\/STRONG> and Love Never Die<\/STRONG> at 7\/1 and thus guaranteeing a rich payoff for any gambler capable of finding the key to this well-stocked race.<\/P> A hint: speed numbers alone won’t separate the wheat from the chaff; this field is far more evenly matched in that department than is usual.\u00a0 Black Tuesday is in fine form lately, though.\u00a0 Top-ranked in the route division, the breedy daughter of Storm Cat and Grade 3-placed King of Queens the Second<\/STRONG> has won seven of eleven, missed the board just once, and is riding a three-race winning streak that includes a pair of Grade 1s.\u00a0 She loves this track, even if she can’t keep a jockey here, but B. Child is no slouch and her Players Club National Oaks win was dizzying: a six-length victory.<\/P> The Birmingham will be a bit of a rematch.\u00a0 Not only is the Players Club runnerup in the field, but it will also include Love Never Die, who laid claim to early-season dominance with a win in the Bluegrass Oaks.\u00a0 She was third in the Chestnut and as such, has a bone to pick with Black Tuesday.\u00a0 She has been a bit off-form, flattening out in the stretch of the Sister Hen and Smackdown III, but her numbers are as good as anyone in the field’s and N. Lawton thought enough of her to stay aboard.<\/P> Tenth-ranked Zarallana<\/STRONG>‘s claim to fame was a victory in the California Oaks over All The Riches<\/STRONG>, the Bluegrass Oaks runner-up who put in credible performances in the Middle Jewel and Eddie Haskell.\u00a0 Zarallana herself was third in the Oaks but floundered in the Chestnut.\u00a0 It’s hard to say if it was the distance that did or in or if she just wasn’t herself that day.\u00a0 A good run in the listed Their Bats(Ire) Special suggests that she may be a miler at heart, but her pedigree says she deserves a chance.<\/P> Willowrun Hottie<\/STRONG> is a daughter of Silver Deputy, out of Grade 3-placed Saved the Dancer<\/STRONG>.\u00a0 She’s been carefully handled, run through her conditions at mostly the allowance level, though she was twice stakes-placed at two.\u00a0 Her efforts thus far have come mostly at the sprint and mile distances and she’s come on well, showing some tactical speed and a steady increase in speed ratings to a 104 last out.\u00a0 The distance and class jump is a question, but she is bred to handle it.<\/P> If her path was conservative, Right of Reply<\/STRONG>‘s was a little bit bold.\u00a0 The Oratory daughter came along quietly enough, beating up on allowance then listed stakes horses, including a convincing 4.25-length score at 11 furlongs.\u00a0 Last time out, though, she was pressed into service representing her home team in the 10-furlong Smackdown III race for sophomores, no restrictions by sex.\u00a0 Undaunted, she was patient early and ferocious late, finishing second, a quarter-length clear of Bluegrass Derby runner-up Passing Stone<\/STRONG>.\u00a0 It was a heady performance and puts her right in contention for a podium spot here.<\/P> The ever-present Super Stables is represented by Vera Gemini<\/STRONG>, by Kingmambo and out of Grade 1-placed Parallax<\/STRONG>.\u00a0 She did her early running on the turf, where she was stakes-placed, but she moved to the dirt in May and won two in a row, including the Grade 3 Snaggin’ Wagon Stakes.\u00a0 She was third in the Sister Hen before not firing last out, but she has a history of coming back strong from a lackluster race.<\/P> The aforementioned Prospector’s Rose<\/STRONG> must be getting a little vexed.\u00a0 The Roses in May filly had a pretty easy time of it early on, but her second-last race came in the Bumblebee Classic versus older, and it’s a tall order to handle Espresso D’Italia<\/STRONG> and Swift Kick<\/STRONG> both.\u00a0 Insult to injury, next time out she saw the bacak of Black Tuesday in the Players Club National Oaks.\u00a0 We may see more early speed out of her on Saturday; she’s fully capable of setting the pace if she wants to, and that gives her options in this closer-heavy field.<\/P> It would give Locked On High<\/STRONG> something to run at.\u00a0 The High Yield filly, out of Grade 2-placed Our Locks, likes to have a nice stalking position.\u00a0 It’s how she won the Grade 3 Leopard Stakes, and what got her second in the Grade 2 Wooly Mammoth BB Oaks.\u00a0 Of some concerns are her Sister Hen and Texas Hold’Em efforts, where she backed up in the stretch; it may be that this is farther than she really wants to go.<\/P> Super Alliance<\/STRONG> isn’t housed in a Super-named barn, but his own name gives his allegiance away.\u00a0 The Dixie Union daughter from an Alydar mare struggled in graded company at two, but stamped her ticked here by winning four of her last five.\u00a0 We’ll excuse the lose; it came on the only off-track she’s faced thus far.\u00a0 Her numbers have shown steady improvement this year and she capped off that tour with a precise win in the Grade 2 First State Oaks.\u00a0 That came at just a mile, but her 5.5-length score in the 9-furlong First Edition Bonanza says 10 furlongs shouldn’t scare her much.<\/P> Lightly-raced Dark Places<\/STRONG> (Black Tie Affair x Hi Jinx<\/STRONG> – Danzig) has made herself look good, never finishing worse than third in nine career starts, and that third was only once.\u00a0 She was a free-wheeling 7-length winner in allowance company and victorious by 3 in a wet-track stakes.\u00a0 Her graded debut came last out, when she made a gritty effort in the First State Oaks but couldn’t quite hold off Super Alliance or Az A Crystahl<\/STRONG>.\u00a0 It was a good outing, and she’ll likely be a bit tougher now\u00a0 that she knows what she’s dealing with.\u00a0 She’s been flirting with the three-digit barrier for a while and it wouldn’t take much to tip her over.<\/P> Eusa<\/STRONG> ran in the First State, too, but much less successfully; the Cat Thief filly bounced badly, finishing seventh.\u00a0 She was coming off of two tough losses, though, a third in the Snaggin’ Wagon and a mowed-down second in listed company.\u00a0 She paired up 100+ speed ratings there, and entered the Snaggin’ Wagon off two convincing listed stakes wins; it would be only fair to forgive her for throwing one clunker.<\/P> How fast is rain, anyway?\u00a0 Fast enough, I guess, since Faster N Rain<\/STRONG> (Rainbow Quest x Determinism<\/STRONG> – Fusaichi Pegasus) is twice stakes-placed.\u00a0 She’s never won above allowance company, though, and her career-high 98 speed rating stands out a bit.\u00a0 She does have a good turn of foot and is well-versed around this distance.\u00a0 Still, it may be asking a little too much.<\/P> And rounding out the field is Elusive Air<\/STRONG>, by Elusive Quality.\u00a0 She won the Grade 3 Myocardial Infarction early in the year, but had a tough spring, and her only win since February came in restricted company.\u00a0 Would surprise.<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Grade 1 Birmingham Stakes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}