The Fox (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
GP- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile on the Inner Turf
March 4, 2023
A field of nine will be heading to the starting gate for the 19th running of The Fox, a Grade 3 turf race for older fillies and mares. In its history, the race has been both a Grade 2 and a Grade 3 and has seen its purse range from $100.000 to $300.000. It is not unusual for HRP, but still interesting to see that in both 2009 and 2010, the race finished in a dead heat so perhaps we are due for that again. Last year’s winner was six-year-old mare Phoe Eva, for Angelos Stable. She would win one more race afterwards before being retired in August. Here’s a quick look at our entrants for the 2023 edition of The Fox!
#1- Versailles (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by J C Ferrer)- A highly successful mare with over $1,300.000 in career earnings that had back-to-back Grade 1 wins late last year. That did not carry over into the BC Fillies and Mares Turf, and she has not been the same horse that she used to be in her two starts since then. Theoretically, she is dropping down in class, but still meets several that she saw in her last start: The Pegasus F & M Turf. Needs her old self to reappear.
#2- Fangs Of The Storm (Arindel, ridden by L Dettori)- This Commanding The Storm mare has accomplished plenty over her 30-race career, earning over $1,700.000 in that time. She’s on much better form than Versailles though, running against her in each of her last two starts with far stronger results. In both the Grade 1 Matriarch and the Pegasus F & M Turf, she was second best. Here, she will get a chance at revenge at the one that beat her in her last start and doesn’t have to look far to see her.
#3- Always Condottieri (Maletto, ridden by G W Corbett)- It was Always Condottieri that kept Fangs Of The Storm from winning the Pegasus F & M Turf, and that victory was no fluke. This filly is also a high earner, making over $1,200.000 in her 23-race career. She’s actually won her last two, as on New Year’s Eve, she won the Grade 3 Suwannee River so she has certainly taken a liking to this racetrack. Ran a respectable fifth in the BC Fillies & Mares Turf six months ago.
#4- Common Misconception (Nakamura Stables, ridden by Al Gonzalez)- She was also in the Pegasus F & M Turf, and finished in third, a length behind Always Condottieri. Like the three starting to her inside, she has also earned a lot in her career, amassing over $1,300.000 in 22 races. A big part of that came in 2020, when she won the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf and has remained a very consistent horse ever since then. Very capable of getting it done here.
#5- Space Force Five (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by A Cedillo)- Well, unlike the previous four, Space Force Five has not won over $1,000.000 but she also has not even won $50.000. The Shark Force filly is more lightly raced and has mostly raced in overnights. Even in them, she’s spent a lot of time placing fourth and fifth and not winning, so it’s going to take a lot to beat the caliber of field she sees here.
#6- Venture In Belief (Night Rider Stables, ridden by Jo Ruiz)- We saw this one run last month in the Grade 3 Megahertz, a race that actually has several of its runners taking place in the Buena Vista Stakes on Saturday instead. Venture In Belief was near the front early there before fizzling out in the end. She was able to carry her speed a lot better in the two races that came before that, and we will need to see that side of her again here.
#7- Summers Day (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by D Moran)- Ran three months ago in the Grade 1 Matriarch and struggled. That performance got her some time off in hopes that she can go back to the horse that won the Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes five weeks before it. While she has done some very good things in her career, especially a strong stretch in the summer of 2021, she has been inconsistent of late. If the rest helps her good side show up, then she can be a threat here.
#8- Rebel Girl (Two Hearts One Love, ridden by E J Wilson)- This will be her debut for her new trainer, who picked her up a little more than a week ago for $20.000 in private sales. However, she’s been away from the track a lot longer, having last been out there in late October. She had been finishing in the middle of the field at the graded level in her last action before the layoff. It all makes the biggest questions surrounding her to be if she needs a race first.
#9- Stacysmomgotitgoinon (Big Jd Racing, ridden by D E Centeno)- In fifteen starts, this Native Music filly has only managed two wins, with the non-maiden score being an ungraded stake for NY-breds in June. Otherwise, she’s been competitive, but not one to trust for a win bet. Her best successes seem to come in sprints, and at this distance she’s been 6th of 6, 6th of 8, and 7th of 7 in her last three said starts.
Prediction: 2-4-3-6
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
