California\u2019s carding five stakes races on Saturday, culminating with the G-2 Encino Man Stakes.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>A $150,000 race for four year old fillies at a mile and a sixteenth, the race pits nine solid fillies against one another.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>We have a mix of proven class and talented up and comers in the field, let\u2019s get to them.<\/FONT><\/P> #1 \u2013 Black Piranha (6\/1) thepontif stables O Brim rides.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>This Street Sense filly is the first foal out of the g-grade Sky Mesa mare Skyhigh Admiral.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Second dam Rear Admiral by Danzig has produced two graded winners.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Black Piranha sports a 10-6-2-1 record.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She didn\u2019t begin her racing career until June of last year when she easily won a maiden first time out and steadily climbed through her conditions, winning her first six races.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>This included a stakes win in the Pro That Baby Memorial Stakes at today\u2019s 8.5 furlong distance, recording a 100 sp.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>After winning three straight routes, Black Piranha returned to sprinting, finishing 3rd<\/SUP> and 5th<\/SUP> in two starts under a mile.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Her last two runs have been at nine furlongs, most recently finishing 2nd<\/SUP> by a head in the owner-restricted Comedy Central Distaff where she earned her career best 108 sp.<\/FONT><\/P> #2 \u2013 Moldavia (5\/1) futurestar stables F Gossett rides.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Moldavia is a G-1 winner on dirt and a G-2 winner on turf, with an overall record of 15-7-3-1 and over a million dollars in the bank.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Moldavia began her career as a two year old where the highlight of her season was the finale \u2013 a win in the G-2 Sell The Queen Stakes.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She followed the path to the Classics early last year, winning the G-2 Miss Bonnie against the fillies and the G-1 Wooden Indian Derby against colts before finishing unplaced in the Bluegrass Derby.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Switched to turf midseason she scored two more wins.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She was last season on the track in the Breeder\u2019s Bowl Distaff where she finished a disappointing 12th<\/SUP>.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Moldavia is a Ghostzapper filly out of a-grade Kingmambo mare Dangerous Reward.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She is the third graded winner that marvelous mare has produced.<\/FONT><\/P> #3 \u2013 Smarty Joan (20\/1) crandyiii stables A Lewis rides.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Smarty Joan is a scratch bred Smarty Jones x Seattle Slew x Danzig filly.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She sports a 19-5-3-2 record.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Smarty Joan ran eight times as a two year old, beginning in February of that year, with what would be her only stakes placing of the year, a third in the NWRC Juvenile Fillies Preview on Dirt.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She began her three year old season the right way, winning the G-3 Santa Jezebel Stakes, what would be her only graded score of the year.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She did win two owner restricted stakes in May but has since failed to hit the board in her last five starts.<\/FONT><\/P> #4 \u2013 Guidecca (11\/1) martialis stables E Donahue rides.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Guidecca, by Distorted Humor, is the first foal out of d-grade Unbridled\u2019s Song mare Venezia.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Venezia has the genetics to be an excellent broodmare, as she is one of six stakes winners (two graded) from eight foals out of the g-grade Storm Cat mare Adam\u2019s Cat.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Guidecca had one start as a two year old, a facile MSW score.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She took an allowance second time out, then finished up the track in two stakes races.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Switched to the turf she took an allowance and finished unplaced in a second.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Back on the dirt she finshed second twice in two outings, then took two consecutive stakes in September and October.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She fnished third and fourth in her last two starts of 2010.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Interestingly she hasn\u2019t routed since her third career start.\u00a0 <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/P> #5 \u2013 Chicken Dinner (8\/1) e2912 stables F Griffen rides.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The lightest raced filly in the field, Chicken Dinner in unbeaten in four starts.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She only began her career in August of last year winning a MSW at seven furlongs then progressing through three allowance races all at a mile.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Each of her last three starts has resulted in a triple digit sp.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Chicken Dinner is a scratch bred Gone West x Saddler\u2019s Wells x A. P. Indy.<\/FONT><\/P> #6 \u2013 Storm Door (2\/1) laserbarn stables M Staples rides.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Our favorite is a daughter of Fusaichi Pegasus and is the fourth stakes winner (first graded) out of the f-grade Storm Cat mare Lovely Rita.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Storm Door owns the two highest sps in the field, having run a 114 twice, including in her last start.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>That race, run over today\u2019s 8.5 furlong distance resulted in a second in the Desfly\u2019s Giant Special Stakes.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Storm Door ran nine times as a two year old and was graded-placed twice, before finally breaking through with a win in the G-3 Adam\u2019s Apple.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Following a fifth in the G-3 Reflection Futurity she won her three year old debut, the G-3 Silverbulletbeer Stakes.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She had mixed results the rest of the year, winning the G-2 Long Price Quarter Stakes along with the G-3 Little Evil Sophmore Stakes (earning the other 114 sp at 8.5 furlongs) and one other stakes.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She also had some hiccups, finishing off the board four times.<\/FONT><\/P> #7 – Play Dead Er (9\/2) erracing stables T Bates rides.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>The second fastest filly in today\u2019s field is this Giant\u2019s Causeway out of the c-grade A.P. Indy mare Susie Er.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Play Dead Er has been on a recent off-track tear winning three races and placing in another.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Overall this mare is 6-5-1-0 on off-tracks, compared to an overall record of 12-6-1-2.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Her last race saw her record a 112 sp while winning the owner-restricted Minnesota Oaks.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She began her career in January of last year and also sports an allowance win going today\u2019s distance two races back.<\/FONT><\/P> #8 \u2013 A Bite of Love (11\/1) bobcat stables R Simcox rides.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>This filly has eleven starts to her credit, with seven wins and one each second and third place finish.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She began her career as a late two year old on the turf running four solid but not brilliant races.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Switched to the dirt she immediately improved 16 sp points with an allowance win.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>An allowance third was followed by five consecutive wins in her last five outings.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>This includes stakes wins in her last two starts, the Consolidate Special Stakes at seven furlongs where she earned a 110 sp and the restricted Lady Gazelle Stakes at nine furlongs where she earned a 98 sp.\u00a0 <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/P> #9 \u2013 Wheldon (5\/1) kate3 stables V Feller rides.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Wheldon seeks her first stakes win in this ambitious spot, after finishing a solid second in the G-2 Barbacoa Handicap in her 2010 finale.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>She earned a 107 sp in that effort at today\u2019s distance, which followed a 110 sp earned going a mile in an allowance in the start previous.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Wheldon won her only start at age two, taking a muddy MSW in December.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Four starts and two wins later she made her stakes debut finishing fourth in the G-3 Timber Stakes.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Back in allowance company she finished fourth then scored another win, followed by a sixth place finish in another stakes.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Her last four races have been her best, winning once and running second four times.\u00a0 <\/SPAN>Wheldon is by Hard Spun out of the grade-e stakes producing A.P. Indy mare Orange Poet.<\/FONT><\/P> Good luck to all of today\u2019s starters! \u00a0<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Who Will Lead Off 2011?<\/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-8809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8809","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=8809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8809\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}