Sorrento Stakes (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
DMR- For Fillies Two Years Old
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
August 6, 2021

Juvenile fillies will be the center of attention at DMR on Friday as the 19th running of the Sorrento Stakes will take place. The race debuted as a Grade 2 like it also is today, but for a while ran as a Grade 3. The purse level is restored to the $200.000 it had been at in 2019. Recently, Mb Stables has been taking home the winners trophy of the race, with three victories in the last four years. Those winners are Beat To The Punch, Relax, and Not A Big Deal, so all of them have gone on to have greater success than simply winning here. He’ll have two fillies in this race, so here’s a look at them and the six others that we will see in the race.

#1- Lailoni (Arindel, ridden by Ru Gonzalez)- This one has not run since the end of April, when she broke her maiden as a second time starter at CD on two weeks rest. I don’t think that layoff will bother her at all, and she did work well here on Monday. Other works are not as strong as that one coming in, but there can be many reasons for that.

#2- Perfect Dunk (La Canada Racehorses, ridden by M E Smith)- This filly has one win in three starts, and that came in a $40.000 maiden claimer at BEL in early May. She did not hit the board in either of the other starts. The last one was the $125.000 Debutante at CD, where she was involved in a very tight finish, but only ended up in sixth. Might look to be closer to the front here than she was in that race.

#3- Paris Pinnacle Party (Mb Stables, ridden by A Cedillo)- Our first entry from Mb Stables has been beating up on TX-breds early in her career, winning two out of three starts. One of them was a $75.000 stake. Sire Pinnacle West always seems to produce one real good one every year. Maybe she’s next.

#4- Lemrun (Fractious, ridden by D Van Dyke)- Finished in a dead heat with Perfect Dunk for sixth place in the $125.000 Debutante. Her biggest concern may be finding a trainer that wants her around, as she has already been the subject to two private sales transactions, post debut. This will be her first race for Fractious, and let’s hope the first of many.

#5- Teardrop Falls (Allinthegate, ridden by J J Hernandez)- She’s won one of her two starts thus far, taking a strong maiden at CD in mid-June. Since then, she has been resting, and posted a good looking work at a mile last month, for future reference. Right now, she’ll look to take these rivals at six furlongs. Wish I could have seen a more recent five or six furlong work to stack her up against these.

#6- Folded Wings (Jive Inc., ridden by T J Pereira)- Jive Inc. has some strong two year olds this year, and Folded Wings should not be lost in the shuffle. She won nicely on debut back on the fifth of April, and has been resting ever since. She has also been working very well, and like her July 21st work at PRX in particular. As long as she is not affected by a layoff, she should be a strong contender for the win.

#7- Biggle (Mb Stables, ridden by V Espinoza)- Like Folded Wings, Biggle won her debut in April and has been on the shelf ever since. For her though, it was a two furlong race at TAM. She’s certainly ready to show what she is capable of at a more traditional distance now based on recent works. The layoff concern is always an underlying issue in this situation.

#8- Coconut Milk (Wood Duck Stables, ridden by F Prat)- This is the third horse in the field to come out of the Debutante, but unlike the other two, she did not dead heat for sixth. Instead, Coconut Milk took home the victory, making her a perfect 2-for-2 in her career. That probably is going to make her the betting favorite in the field since we can have a little more confidence in her running well. Then again, they’re all still young.

Prediction: 8-3-5-6

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES