An interesting collection of juvenile fillies graces us with their presence for this weekend\u2019s Grade I Frickazee Stakes in America\u2019s Armpit, New Jersey. Several fillies will be trying graded company for the first time. On top of that, fully half the field will be routing for the first time, and only one of these girls has gone as far as this race\u2019s 8.5 furlongs. They\u2019ll be running for a hefty $500,000 purse and vitally important stakes points.<\/p>\n
Next to the rail will be Autumn<\/i>\u2019s Ee Bright Light<\/b>. A daughter of Fantasatic Light, this will be her first route. She really blossomed last time out when she stretched to 7.5 furlongs, winning Grade III Little Momma with a 91 fig. That race was such an improvement for her, the question is whether it was a fluke or a true sign of maturity. She should appreciate the extra ground and she\u2019ll have a competent jockey aboard. If she can equal her last race, she has a superb chance of winning.<\/p>\n
Next door will be Zooomr3<\/i>\u2019s Wiki Waki Woo<\/b>. She ran a solid third last time out in a Grade III, but her speed figs have yet to break out of the mid-70s. That\u2019s not going to cut it here. On top of that, her jockey is absolutely wretched. She looks like she\u2019ll like the increased distance, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019ll be enough for her this time around.<\/p>\n
Third will be Saver<\/i>\u2019s Full Hearts<\/b>, who sits at 7\/1. She\u2019s an interesting filly with 2 wins in 3 starts, a royally-bred Gone West x Northern Dancer x Alydar filly. Her first win was a MSW and the next was a four-horse stakes, so this is a huge step up for her. On the one hand, her best speed fig is an 80, on the other hand, she hasn\u2019t really been asked to give more. She\u2019ll appreciate the added ground for sure, but she\u2019ll need to take a big step up to play here. She may well be capable of it, but it\u2019s too soon to tell.<\/p>\n
Storm Forecast<\/b> will run with Spewu<\/i>\u2019s silks. The Vision and Verse filly is coming off a win against a small stakes field. Before that, she finished third in a graded race. She\u2019s never been past 6.5 panels, so this is a big change for her. Her sire tends to produce sprinters, so it\u2019s hard to say how she\u2019s going to fare. Her current speed figs in the mid 80s would put her in contention to hit the board, but this distance change adds a lot of questions. Very good jockey will help. We\u2019ll know a whole lot more about this youngster after this weekend.<\/p>\n
Dundey<\/i>\u2019s Baseball Fever<\/b> will break from the five spot. She\u2019s had a lot of success for a filly who debuted with a 49 fig. She has been improving steadily as she stretches out. This will be her first time at a mile or more. If she continues that improvement, she could be in the mix. She\u2019ll try to head to the front and if she can hang on past a mile, she could be a factor in how this race ends up.<\/p>\n
2ofus<\/i>\u2019 well-named Battle Music<\/b> (Unbridled\u2019s Song x War Chant) is a long shot at 17\/1, but she\u2019s a successful gal. She\u2019s won two of five starts, but those two races were her last two races and were both routes. She has certainly blossomed as she\u2019s stretched out, but this is a big step up from the allowance company she\u2019s been keeping. She\u2019ll need to speed up a ton to do well here, but she looks like she\u2019s on her way to a nice career regardless.<\/p>\n
6ward2<\/i>\u2019s I Love New Orleans<\/b> is the longest shot on the board at 33\/1, but she\u2019s done all right for herself anyway. She\u2019s been placed carefully and therefore got herself some money and stakes points in 4-horse stakes fields. But this race is a very different story. With a 5% winning jockey and no truly tough races under her belt, the Arazi filly looks outclassed. A nice little horse, but this isn\u2019t likely to be her week.<\/p>\n
Wemblem<\/i> sends Pandaemonium<\/b>, a Bernardinin filly who has been on the board in all three starts so far. She\u2019s improving with each outing, but this is her first graded race and her first time in a full field. She has yet to hit the 80s. On the plus side, she\u2019s been improving steadily and seems to like two turns, so if she manages to take a big step up here, she could get a piece of the pie.<\/p>\n
Topicountb<\/i> presents us with the Seeking the Gold daughter, Powerseeker<\/b>. She\u2019s won two of five starts and seems to be perking up as she stretches out a bit and switches to the dirt. She ran a much-improved 82 fig last time out and a big question will be whether that was a fluke or a sign of things to come. This will be her first time beyond seven furlongs. She should like stretching out more, but it\u2019s still an unanswered issue for her. If she improves a b it off that last run, she could do well this weekend.<\/p>\n
Smelly Slimey <\/b>will be running for Flurgen4<\/i> this weekend and will break from the ten spot. She just broke her maiden in her sixth attempt, so it\u2019s awfully ambitious to be placing her in a Grade I. She has been improving with each run and is the only horse here to go 8.5 furlongs, but she would need a whole lot of improvement to be a factor this weekend. I\u2019d like to see her prove herself a bit more before I\u2019d back her in this kind of race.<\/p>\n
Robinson Flat <\/b>is the 5\/1 favorite in this race and will be running for Goldnmist<\/i>. The Forestry filly is 2-for-2, including a win in a five-horse overnight stakes. In that seven-furlong race, she ran an 86, the second highest number in this field. Those two first races look great, but she has a lot still to answer, including whether she can handle a tough field and whether she wants any part of a mile. The answers could well be yes, but I\u2019m not yet sure.<\/p>\n
Sevenspanishangels<\/b>, running for Texasace02<\/i>, is a wicked-tough looking daughter of Bernardini who has won 3 of 4 races. She\u2019s won twice at a mile, but those were miniscule fields. She faces a much tougher field for the first time. She could go either way, but she looks like a good one to me, and having a terrific jockey could make a big difference for her this weekend.<\/p>\n
Hornedfrog<\/i>\u2019s Dance Away Renee<\/b> got herself the best jockey in the field and that\u2019s sure to help this daughter of came home. She\u2019s coming off a very tough 13th-place finish in the Grade I Getaway and it\u2019s tough to know what to make of that. Did she not want to go as long as 7 furlongs? Bad news, if so. She has won and finished second in Grade IIs, so the level of competition is unliley to be a problem. So is she a sprinter or did she simply have a bad race? We\u2019ll have to tune in to the race to find out.<\/p>\n
Last is Super16<\/i>\u2019s Scorch the Earth<\/b>, which is a name both horrifying and awesome. The Dehere filly is bred to run all day, but so far she\u2019s run only a minute and 36 seconds that we know of \u2013 a win in a mile-long MSW. She won easily in a respectably-sized field, but posted only a 73. Who knows? Anything could happen with this gal, but her connections might as well shoot for some stakes points while they can. Pathetic jock is a problem.<\/p>\n
Looks like a wide-open race, with lots of horses with unknown abilities at this distance and this level of competition. Should be fun! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Grade I Frickazee Stakes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"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-4872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4872","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\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4872\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}