There\u2019s riches to be had in California this week for a small group of older mares in the Grade One Maybe Johnny Handicap. A field of six lines up for the mile and an eighth race which will be run over a firm turf course. It\u2019s a beautiful time to be in San Diego where the turf meets the surf and it will be made even more beautiful for one of these trainers who spotted this short spot as all of their fillies and mares are looking for their first grade one stakes win. That said four of the six do have previous graded stakes wins on their resumes and you can\u2019t sleep on the other two either. Let\u2019s take a look at the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#1 Stir My Noodles 5\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stir My Noodles is a four year old and has the fewest number of starts of the runners here with only ten. She began her career on the dirt at the end of her two year old year and would make her first four starts on that surface. Her only win came when she broke her maiden in her second start going a mile and an eighth. By May her form was disappointing for her regal breeding \u2013 she\u2019s a scratchbred daughter of Medaglia D\u2019oro x Lonhro x Tapit \u2013 and off to turf she went. Since that move she\u2019s won half of her starts on this surface. Two of those races came at this distance and both were in stakes races. Back in February she scored in a listed over this track where she sat in second early on before taking command at the top of the stretch and holding on to win by a measured length. She ran a 113 speed in that spot, a figure she would do one better two starts later in the Grade Three The Whole Time where she lead wire to wire. She got a very easy lead there and just held on for the win, taking it by a half length. In between those two races she tried the Grade Two Black Betty Handicap which was run over good turf. She battled for the early lead there and faded to finish fifth. Whether that can be blamed on the course or the strategy is a big question mark. But with three of her four wins coming at this distance it certainly seems like her sweet spot. She\u2019s very dangerous to be the second longest shot in the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#2 Tiers To This 7\/2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Winner of the Grade Two Black Betty Handicap was Tiers to This. She\u2019s a five year old daughter of Palace Pier out of a stakes winning Montjeu x Giant\u2019s Causeway mare and is the only stakes winner from seven foals from her dam. Much like Stir My Noodles she is a pro at this distance where she has won three of her four starts (including that grade two). Her other two wins at the distance came in a listed as a three year old in November of 2024 and then last November in the Grade Three Red Bird Handicap. Those two wins both came over firm turf courses. Her most recent start came going a mile and a quarter in a grade one which proved too far for her. She also has speed but doesn\u2019t need to lead to win. In the Black Betty she sat in the garden spot in third before pouncing at the stretch call and going on to win by a length and a half with a 109 speed, not far off of her career best of 112. Even though she\u2019s five years old she only has twenty two starts under her belt and seems to be primed for another big run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#3 King of My Lope 7\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The longest shot on the board is this four year old filly. With just two wins from eighteen career starts and no stakes wins it would be easy to completely toss her out. She is however in the best form of her career with her last four speeds averaging out around 105. Interestingly three of those runs came in sprints where she was third in a listed and then third again in a grade three. After an inexplicably poor run going six furlongs her connections stretched her out to a mile in another listed and she ran a career best 110 speed when finishing third. What made the difference? It may lie in her running style. She\u2019s a deep closer who kept running out of of ground. That said she\u2019s tried 9 furlongs twice before and been off the board both times so her stamina may top out at a mile. She\u2019s a longshot for a reason but an interesting one and depending on how the pace sets up she could get a favorable trip. She\u2019s a four year old daughter of Alabama Express out of a stakes winning Lope de Vega x King Kamehameha mare. She is the third foal for her dam, her two older brothers include a stakes winner and a stakes placed horse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#4 Teq 5\/2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Co-favorite Teq is a regally bred four year old daughter of Dubawi x Danzig x Lyphard. She\u2019s hit the board in eleven of thirteen starts including seven trips to the winner\u2019s circle. She enters this spot having won five of her past six starts. In that time the lowest speed she\u2019s run is a 108 with her best coming two starts back in the Grade Three Morning Julep at a mile and a sixteenth where she ran a 113. Her most recent start saw her run a 112 while winning the Grade Two Smart Dancer at this distance. In both of those wins she was over six lengths back at the half before making sustained runs to win going away. The Smart Dancer was her only try at this distance, her connections may have worried about sending her this far after one of her rare off the board finishes came going a mile and a quarter. That race was back in April of her three year old season so it is easy in hindsight to toss it out as she is a much better horse this year than last although it may be that she doesn\u2019t want more than a mile and an eighth even now. But there is no question about today\u2019s distance as her win in the Smart Dancer was her most dominating score putting three lengths between herself and the second place finisher. With just thirteen starts she has plenty of room to mature too. This may be her grade one unveiling and if she wins this one I have no doubt she will win another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#5 Dark Agent 4\/1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four year old Dark Agent was good enough as a two year old to qualify for the Breeders\u2019 Bowl but she didn\u2019t fire in that spot and her form as a three year old was pretty hit or miss. She came less than a length away from winning a grade one mile race in March but didn\u2019t find the winner\u2019s circle until October of last year when she won an allowance going a mile and an eighth over four over matched rivals. This year however Dark Agent has finally come through on the early promise she showed. She\u2019s only made three starts but her lowest speed during that time was a 110. Her first two races came at a mile where she won an allowance with a 114 and then was third in the Grade Two Blood Bond Stakes. In both starts she made a late run. Her most recent start also came at this distance in the Grade One Ugly Breeders\u2019 Bowl Distaff over this track. In that spot she sat midpack early but closer than she had been in her prior two races. She made an early move that proved to be premature as she tired slightly in the stretch to finish second but was less than two length off the winner and ran a 111 speed. She\u2019s going to break through in one of these races at some point and it could easily be here. Dark Agent is a scratchbred daughter of Dark Angel x Dynaformer x Nureyev.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#7 Moonsharill 5\/2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The oldest mare in the race and the one with the most starts is Monsharill. But she is in the best form of her career and has a proven record at this distance. Her last six races have come at a mile and an eighth and include a listed win, a win in the Grade Three Bickerknocker Handicap and another win in the Grade Two Saint Ana over this track in her most recent start. She was also beaten just a head in the Grade Two Molson Export back in September where she ran a career best 114 speed. For comparison in the Saint Ana she ran a 111. She is a need the lead kind of runner but while the first two in the gate here have early speed neither of them is a committed front runner like Moonsharill is. If she does get a relatively easy lead she will be very tough to catch. This is a seven year old scratchbred daughter of Lemon Drop Kid x Danehill x Sharpen Up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good luck to all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s riches to be had in California this week for a small group of older mares in the Grade One<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"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-75844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75844","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\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75844"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75846,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75844\/revisions\/75846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}