The Suncoast Stakes (KYO)- $150.000 Purse
TAM- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and Seventy Yards on the Dirt
February 6, 2021

It might not be a graded stake, but points for the KYO will still be on the line as a field of eight looks to nail down those ten points for winning the race. It is the 17th time that the race will be run, and it’s purse has ranged from a simple $60.000 to the $150.000 it is at today. Mb Stables is the most successful trainer in the race, having won it four times and that includes last year with Latte Lady. That filly was not able to build on the win as the trainer looked to move her into the graded ranks afterwards, and she is now serving as a broodmare. As I look at this field, I see a group of horses that does not have a real headliner, so it could make for a very interesting race. Here are our runners!

#1- Ma Party (Chili King Stables, ridden by J Talamo)- One of two fillies in this race that has multiple wins in her career. She’s also the only one here that ran in the BC Juvenile Fillies, getting there thanks to finishing second in the Grade 1 Frizette. She was an also ran in the BC, which can be forgiven, but only placed fifth in the $100.000 Soviet Problem for CA-breds. Time for her to show that Frizette form again!

#2- Shining Moments (RNP Stables, ridden by D E Centeno)- This is the other horse in the field with multiple wins and Shining Moments is the only stake winner in this crowd. After winning on debut at PEN, the filly upgraded herself to the Fifth Avenue, part of the NY Stallion Series, where she was able to get the win. A month later, she was a bit of a dud in the Grade 2 Santa Ynez at SA, but this field does not seem as strong as that.

#3- Maresfield (The Sidley Stud, ridden by M Franco)- The Ginger Haggis filly has ran often with the NY-bred condition, trying several different statebred stakes after she won on debut. She’s had a couple close calls, finishing second and within half a length twice while running seven furlongs. The Gimma and the My Trusty Cat were those races. This is pretty similar here, so we’ll see if a little more distance gets her that stake win.

#4- Cartwheel Dumpling (Night Rider Stables, ridden by E J Zayas)- Up to this point, this filly can only boast a win at TUP, which came in her second start. The trainer has plenty of confidence that she is going to do much better things for her career, and would run her in the $100.000 Cash Run down the road at GP, and she ran fourth. Plenty capable of getting it done, but will have to be at her best.

#5- No Telling (Nakamura Stables, ridden by T J Pereira)- It will be the first time that this horse runs on the main track as each of her first four starts came on the turf. None of them stood out, and her win came in a $15.000 maiden claimer. Things have been changed up for her now, and that should be a good thing. It is was simply a matter of being on the wrong surface, then she can run well here.

#6- Silver Cobra (Arindel, ridden by E Jaramillo)- Here is the most experienced runner in the field, as she will make her 10th start in this race. Only of the previous nine have ended with a trip to the winners circle, but when you are working as well as she is, then it is certainly tempting to keep putting her out there and hoping that this will be the race where she gets it done. She’s been competitive in ungraded stakes, so I think she is about to run a great race.

#7- Nebraska Zero (Keikowin Racing, ridden by A A Gallardo)- Ran here on New Years Day at this very distance, and won by four lengths. Of course, there is a big difference between the maidens she ran against then, and the field she sees here. Has come a long way since being beaten 23 lengths in her debut, and the blinkers have probably helped. If that effort from last month can be duplicated, she will have a shot here, too.

#8- Posterity (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by J Stein)- In her four race career, Posterity has never failed to hit the board, but is looking for her second win. She has mainly been a turf horse, running on that surface in every race other than her debut. Has not race more than five and a half furlongs for her career, either, so the couple of unknowns here make me hesitant to pick her.

Prediction: 6-2-7-1

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded