The Miss PS (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
PIM- For Filles Three Years Old
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
May 21, 2016
The title of Miss PS (No, not Miss Private Sales) is on the line at PIM on Saturday, as part of our PRK undercard. This is a Grade 3 event for female sprinters that will be held for the eleventh time. It did debut on the schedule in 2004, but took a couple years off at the beginning of this decade. There was a brief set of years where this race lost its graded classification, and the purse dipped to $100.000. That may have been something to do with its momentary disappearance, and in 2015 it was back as a Grade 3, and back at $150.000 for a purse. No trainer has won the race more then once, and there are some top trainers running today that don’t have their name on the list yet. E Camacho is the only jockey to win the race more then once, having done so in 2012 and 2014. This year, we have six going to post and I must say there is a lot of balance in this field. I can see any of these winning and any of these finishing sixth. All these fillies know how to win. It should be a good race, let’s meet them.
#1- Bye For Now (Mb Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- On the rail, we have an Iron Kaki filly who has an impressive record in that she has won five of seven career races. One of them is an ungraded stake, as she took the $75.000 Slide Show in the slop at RP around Thanksgiving. That bodes well if we do see the expected wet track here on Saturday. As a matter of fact, she is three-for-three on tracks listed as anything other then fast, so she will be hoping for raindrops. Works are showing improvement, and that may all she needs to make the slight jump up that she is doing here.
#2- Love Appeal (Hay Makers Inc, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- Back in September, not many people probably noticed when Hay Makers Inc picked up this filly for $3.000 in the auction, but she has sure turned into quite an investment. With her current trainer, she has gone (5-2-2-1) and has earned the shot to try to move her career forward to this level. She’s never raced against this quality of competition, and other then a WV-bred stake, in which she is third, her recent career has been in allowances or optional claimers. That said, I really liked her allowance effort two races ago at GP, and she recently turned in a career best five furlong work. Duplicating the GP effort with just that slight hint of improvement can get her in the winners circle here.
#3- Stump The Skeleton (Chili King Stables, ridden by J R Leparoux)- Two weeks ago, this filly was at CD, taking part in the Grade 2 Eight Belles and finished right in the middle of the pack. Since we aren’t seeing anyone else in this field making that kind of quick turnaround, that may keep her from being the post time favorite, which she likely would have been. Prior to that, she was brilliant in winning the $200.000 Evening Jewel Stakes for CA-breds. She’s been consistent in everything but graded stakes in her career, and when she has run at this level before, we see some of her most subpar runs. She needs to step up here and show the great talent she has.
#4- Little Kruz (Brave, ridden by J R Velazquez)- After a couple of disappointing results that came about from chasing a KYO nomination, Little Kruz is cutting back her distance to something that she has not run this year. The last time she has raced less then seven furlongs was a four horse, $55.000 SC Residence stake at PRX. There is very little in public works that one can go by, with just two since August, so she’ll be a hard one to get a handle of. She often goes for a high price at the betting window, and that will probably hold true here as well.
#5- Lea (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by K Carmouche)- This Quick Code filly will be looking for her fourth straight win in this race. All three of those wins come while at the ungraded stakes level, with the highlight probably being the Cicada at AQU in March. That winning streak coincides with the first race that the trainer gave her a shadow roll on race day. However, she isn’t just a hot “now” filly, she’s always been full of potential. As a two year old, she qualified for the BC Juvenile Filles thanks in large part to third place finishes in the Grade 2 Adirondack and Grade 1 Frizette. By the way, the track condition those days: muddy and sloppy. So even with our expected rain, Lea will not be backing down. She seems to be horse to beat in here, and it will finally be her first graded win if it occurred.
#6- Pink Candy Stripes (Barcelona Farms, ridden by J Pimentel)- This filly by Rene got her career off to a great start, winning four of her first five races. The last two of those were against stake company: the OK Classics Lassie in October, and then the Key Cents for NY-breds a month later. Then, she was sold. A couple days before Christmas, Barcelona Farms bought himself a $400.000 Christmas present from Blushing Meadows. With his current trainer, he has picked up a couple thirds in graded stakes, which is a level he never raced at while with Blushing Meadows. In February, he raced in a four horse field in the Franklin Square which also featured Lea and Bye For Now, and he was third. (Lea won the race, and Bye For Now was 4th). They’ll be the top contenders again.
Prediction: 5-6-3-1
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
