The Just A Game (Grade 1)- $500.000 Purse
BEL- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile on the Turf
June 5, 2021

It’s time to start looking at the undercard for the biggest race, perhaps in the history of our virtual racing world. There is always plenty of excitement prior to the BEL on this day, and that includes fillies and mares who like to do their racing on the grass. The Just A Game is a Grade 1 race that will run for the 17th time. Its history has seen horses like A Little Oblivion, Attraction, and La Terrifiant get it done. For A Little Oblivion, she was a two time winner back in 2011 and 2012 for Night Mare Racing. Now, La Terrifiant will look to duplicate that achievement as the 2020 winner highlights this field. She will see some opponents in here that she is used to facing over her long career, and it should make for an exciting race.

#1- Angel Shark (John Henry, ridden by E Jaramillo)- Last year, Angel Shark was here for BEL weekend, and ended up running in The NY. She didn’t fare well in that longer race, and ended up running ninth. Occasionally in her past performances, a race like that will show up, but she has managed eight wins in 25 starts. Since winning the Red Carpet Handicap at DMR last November, she has struggled. Shortens up here and hopes for much better.

#2- Hash Tag Hash (Fractious, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Had a great spring last year, and that led to her running in several Grade 1’s in the summer and fall. Got the fourth place cut in both the DMR Oaks and the First Lady (KEE). That was all for prior trainer Estero Farms. He would sell her off in mid-April to Fractious for $150.000. They have had one race together, the Grade 1 CD Distaff Turf Mile last month, where four of the horses in this race come out of. Hash Tag Hash was sixth that day, but there is room for improvement as the new trainer gets more used to her.

#3- Crown Witch (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by D Davis)- Last month, this filly took on some of the best in the CD Distaff Turf Mile, but when she did it, it was her graded debut. Prior to that race, she was the winner of the $110.000 Turf Distaff at TAM. She is showing the potential to be very good at this level, but the concern some will have is her general lack of experience running against the likes of La Terrifiant, who did beat her by three lengths last month.

#4- Ewa Beach (The American, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- This trainer does not make a lot of starts, and is 1-for-21 on the year. That one win came courtesy of Ewa Beach back in January in the Grade 3 Marshuas River Stakes, so there is no denying that The American has a good one on their hands. Ewa Beach also comes out of the CD Distaff Turf Mile, where she made a late move to get up for third, but never threatened La Terrifiant for the win. She can be just as strong here in The Just A Game.

#5- La Terrifiant (Smokey Stover, ridden by Ru Fuentes)- To put it simply, last year’s Just A Game winner has continued to run at a high level, and there is no reason to think that she cannot successfully defend her title. After winning this race, she won two more graded stakes, including the Grade 1 First Lady, and ran third in the BC Fillies and Mares Turf. Less than a week after that race, she was sold by Our Athletes to Smokey Stover for $1,751.000, and the new trainer had plenty of racing plans left for her. She’s won three more times, including the Grade 1 Matriarch, and then last month, when she captured that CD Distaff Turf Mile, beating three of her rivals here. When running exactly a mile on the grass, La Terrifiant has won five of her last six races at the distance, a stretch that began with last year’s Just A Game. Bet against her? I wouldn’t advise it.

#6- Supersede (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by S Ryan)- A horse that knows how to win, doing so in nine of her 17 starts. Most of those are in overnights, and until very recently her history in graded stakes has not been impressive. However, she stepped well in her last start, placing second in the Grade 2 Royal North Stakes two weeks ago, on yielding turf. Now, she goes longer and meets some rivals which will require her to run the race of her life.

#7- Pink Kitten (Threshold, ridden by S R Bahen)- After winning the $75.000 Big Drama last month at GP, Pink Kitten is moving back to the grass, which is the surface she has raced the majority of her career on. Her career has mostly been running in ungraded or smaller graded stakes, and she has done decently in them. Only once has she gone a mile or more in her career, so she is being asked a lot here. If Threshold has the adds all set now, and convinced of her running this distance, then she could be pesky in this field.

Prediction: 5——- 2-4-1

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES