Odds and Ends for Wednesday

In Race 7 at Santa Anita, watch Le Cirque to have a big race as she returns to the turf after a disappointing try at dirt on January 25. Her maiden race (1-1/16 mile on turf) was impressive, as she rallied 4-wide in the stretch and won going away on “good” surface in 1:44.2. Her late pace scored a 103 Bris, the highest of any filly in this field today. As I said, she took an unwise foray onto dirt in January. Scratched from the 1-1/16 mile (G3) San Ysabel Stakes on January 6, Le Cirque finished last in a 1-mile OC80K race on January 25 that featured recent WinStar Oaks winner Tiz’s Tough Sis finishing three lengths behind Seaside Affair, and just a head in front of Swiss Current, who finished second in the WinStar Oaks. Very nice field. However, Le Cirque is bred for turf and specifically for distance. She’s the daughter of Dynaformer (sire of Film Maker, among others) out of the French Deputy mare Queue, a multiple graded stakes winner herself; her second dam is turf stakes winner PJ Floral, daughter of Peroxide Princess whose sire What a Pleasure sired Foolish Pleasure (hence my interest). Breeding, recent bullet workout (March 22, 5 furlongs 1:00.1 H 1/32), and change to jockey Victor Espinoza should reap excellent results, particularly as the morning line is 8-1.

I’ll also being watching with interest the third race at Santa Anita (6 furlongs 62500 maiden claiming race on dirt). While he may not win, first time starter Warren’s Secret looks to do well. Out of the Storm Cat colt Sea of Secrets (who also sired Wollaston Bay), Warren’s Secret has trained well on the Santa Anita track, and his dam Miss Kenton County has 7 winners from 10 starters, including one stakeswinner.

The fifth race at Aqueduct (1-mile dirt Clm25K) looks like a no-brainer, with Ramon Dominguez riding the Holy Bull filly The Holy One for Steve Klesaris. In her last race, January 21, she won a 1 1/8 mile A32000n2x at Charles Town with a 92. She broke her maiden at Delaware back in October 2005 with Dominguez up, and her recent workouts are strong (3 furlongs :36 B; 4 furlongs :48.3 B). However, the horse to watch may be Hapid Ralo, trained by Tom Bush and with Shaun Bridgmohan up. She’s coming down in class, after having won two consecutive 1-mile races at Aqueduct this winter. In addition, Minebrook (out of Monarchos and multiple winner-producing mare Doedee) looks to improve going the shorter distance after her last four races.

Finally, I don’t expect anything from her, considering her recent results, but I’ll be keeping my eye on a granddaughter of Foolish Pleasure called Remorseful in the sixth race at Beulah :)

UPDATE:
Well, I caught a replay video, and Le Cirque did win the 7th race at Santa Anita by a nose, only to be disqualified to third for interference in the stretch. Ok, she bore out a little bit, but geez, I have seen a lot worse with no DQ.

In Race 5 at Aqueduct, The Holy One was a late scratch after acting up in the gate. Minebrook went to the lead early with Pretty Partisan, but fell back as they entered the stretch. Pretty Partisan tired but held on just enough for the win ($12.00), although Hapid Ralo was strongly gaining on her to finish second ($3.10).

At Beulah, Remorseful didn’t totally embarrass herself, passing tired rivals to finish 4th of six in Race 6. And rookie runner Warren’s Secret (who went off at 21-1) finished a game fourth, behind more experienced horses in the third race at Santa Anita.