Debutante ($225.000 Purse)
CD- For Fillies Two Years Old
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
June 29, 2025

The Debutante is one of the first chances for two-year-old fillies to show if they have what it takes to compete against the best in the division. All twelve runners in this year’s race boast one win, taking between one and three races to do so. A couple ran in the Astoria at the start of the month, but mostly these horses are getting their first taste of running against other winners. That makes these races completely up for grabs, but that can also make it exciting. Since they don’t have the race history, there’s not a lot to talk about with each of them yet but a year for now, who knows, one of these may be winning the KYO here in the Spring. Last year’s winner, Lazy Eye’s Grayte Bay was never able to do anything after her win and is already retired. The runner up, Aye Eye, ended up in the BC Juvenile Fillies. None of them ran in the KYO. So, while it’s a good look at some young two-year-olds, it’s not necessarily a precursor to bigger races as a three-year-old. Let’s check out the field now:

1- She Is Into It (Jerry Garcia Racing, ridden by L Dettori)- Familiar with this racetrack, as both of her prior starts were here. Didn’t take well to the mud on debut but came on length to win at the start of the month with L Dettori aboard.

2- Party Expert (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by M Franco)- After finishing fifth at AQU in April, Party Expert came here with blinkers and broke her maiden last month. No reason why she can’t party more here this time.

3- Spring Ginger (The Sidley Stud, ridden by J R Velazquez)- The next great foal by Ginger Haggis? Well, time will tell, but after winning against ON-breds at WO last month, she’s promising and has some of the better six furlong works in here.

4- Tonic Wine (Williams9, ridden by B Curtis)- Only has made one start, and it was a victory at KEE at the beginning of April. She’s had a lot of time to rest and will finally get a chance to build on that effort.

5- Sherbini (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by P Lopez)- Immediately, that 99 SRF will jump out at you. On debut in April in the slop, she demolished a field of NY-Breds at AQU by four lengths. Is she really that good, or is that one of those speed figures we take with a grain of salt? Her work at PRX is the second fastest six furlong work here, .01 behind Fight Oligarchy.

6- Ideal Impression (La Gloria Stable, ridden by T Conner)- La Gloria Stable has spent a lot of money building their stable and now we will see how their purchases fare as they unleash them in races like this. Ideal Impression was a $375.000 auction purchase, unraced, and won on debut here six weeks ago.

7- Island Connection (Nakamura Stables, ridden by G Corrales)- Her first race was unspectacular at FL, but she still got a fourth-place check. Following that, she made a trip to the Spa to take on NY-Breds during the Belmont Racing Festival at SAR and looked sharp in her win.

8- Rock Steady (Rampage Stable, ridden by J L Ortiz)- Made her debut in the middle of April against CA-Breds, and came out on top. Like others in here, this filly by Oleg has been waiting for her chance to run again as she looks to build on that.

9- Lose Control (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- Her first career race came right here at the start of the month, winning by nose against the boys. There will be no weight allowance here as she returns to the track three weeks later.

10- Lady Lobo (Fractious, ridden by A Beschizza)- Fractious is back, and not wasting any time trying to return to his old form. Lady Lobo was picked up for $325.000 in private sales, five weeks after she won her debut race at PRX. Now the filly will need to live up to that high vote of confidence.

11- Spicy Lilah (Night Rider Stables, ridden by F Geroux)- Our two Astoria runners get the outside posts for this race. That race proved to be a little too spicy for this filly, as she could do no better than tenth. Prior to that, she broke her maiden at AQU against NY-Breds and will look here to put that tough race behind her.

12- Fight Oligarchy (Riggins Racing, ridden by M E Smith)- She also did not cash a check in the Astoria, but her effort was a lot better, as she placed fifth in the race, and is also 1-for-3 in her career to this point. On Sunday, she was at SA and worked faster at six furlongs than anyone in this field has worked at the distance.

Prediction (you’re better off picking random numbers, but we’ll try): 3-5-10-12

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded