Ashland (Grade 1) (KYO)- $400.000 Purse
KEE- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
April 3, 2021
The KYO is less than a month away, and we are starting to get a good idea of who will be in the field. There is still more to be decided, however, as four 100-point races will take place on Saturday. Here, we will look at the Ashland, a Grade 1 that takes place at KEE. In its past, the race has seen some great horses win, and recently the fillies that have won have been very successful. 2018 winner, Quiver Pond, may not have won the KYO, but did win almost everything else she ran in that year. 2019 winner, Tenrikyo, has gone on to have a great career and will be seen on the undercard Saturday here at KEE in the Vinery Madison. The race was won last year by Bite The Bullet, and Mb Stables, and she would go on to do what everyone in this race is hoping to emulate, win the KYO. Bite The Bullet did not do much after winning the KYO, and would be retired after running in the BC Distaff. We have nine going to the gate, including one you might remember from last week. Here’s the field!
#1- Notorious Return (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by S Ryan)- We start this off with a filly that has only run in a stake once, coming last September in the Grade 2 Chandelier, and she was not quite ready for this level yet. She still has just one win in eight starts, but a couple in the money finishes recently, and it being the last chance to get into the KYO, TwinTowersRacing is hoping that she steps up in this race. Her SRF’s will not impress, and in this field, she’s tough to support.
#2- Dirty Storm (Arindel, ridden by G Saez)- Much like Notorious Return, Dirty Storm has just one win in eight starts, but her most impressive result is when she ran second in the Spinaway at SAR in September. That would be the highlight of her career thus far, and while it did get her in the BC Juvenile Fillies, she was outmatched there. After being dropped into allowances witn the NY-bred condition, she has been better, but still is looking for that second win.
#3- Gracie G (Mb Stables, ridden by E Jaramillo)- Even Mb Stables will take a shot with a filly this last in the game. Gracie G is still a maiden, and that showed in her last start in the Santa Ysabel, where she was beaten by three lengths. Was also beaten in a $200.000 ungraded stake. When you’re Mb Stables, you can afford to do this, but she still has a lot to prove, I think.
#4- Viking Belle Vb (Smokey Stover, ridden by L Contreras)- Last week, she ran in the Bourbonette Oaks at TP, and got the win. It was a victory that increased her point total to 40, placing her 12th on the KYO leaderboard, but that is unlikely to be enough given there are still four 100-point races to go. So, Smokey Stover brings her back. If it does work out, then the KYO would be three races in a month. I’ve seen it work with the close back to back races, but the third in close proximity is often where it shows when it is tried. We’ll worry about that if she gets there.
#5- Story To Tell (Mb Stables, ridden by F Prat)- Sitting 19th on the leaderboard, this filly has some work to do if she wants to be considered by Mb Stables to be one of his three entries. Right now, he has four in the top eleven, so this could be more about just winning a race that has a $400.000 purse. Story To Tell ran very well against LA breds early in her career and got a Santa Ynez win in January. She’s missed the board in her two starts afterwards, but is very capable of bouncing back.
#6- Sundress (Our Athletes, ridden by F Geroux)- The Cherokee Sunset filly is just below the cut line right now for making it into the KYO, standing in the 17th spot. What I like about her here is that she seems to be at top form right now with two wins and two seconds in her last five starts. Most recently, she ran in the Santa Ysabel, and was second. Sundress might not win this race, but I feel good about her getting a top three position here, and that should get her in. Might need to be top two, though.
#7- Send Noods (Jive Inc, ridden by Mar Garcia)- The trainer likely needs a top two finish here to get Send Noods into the KYO as she is presently 30th on the leaderboard, with 10 points. The filly has only sent the trainer to the winners circle after a race once in her eight starts, but seems to do a good job at always being in the mix. She has mainly been a sprinter, but did run third at a mile in the $250.000 Busher, despite fading a bit in the stretch.
#8- Tall And Fast (Arindel, ridden by S R Bahen)- In February, Tall And Fast was down at FG and won the Alexandria Stakes. That’s a win that got her 50 points, and the one she had before that will give her an edge over others with 50. As long as Arindel enters here, Tall And Fast will run next month in the KYO. This makes her here to win the race, and she is fresh and ready to roll. Works are great, and she should be one of the favorites here.
#9- Analfi (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by J Lezcano)- Ran about three weeks ago out at TUP in the $50.000 AZ Oaks, a race that would be her fourth win in ten starts. Overall, she has tried a variety of different stakes, and has had varying levels of success within them. One thing to note is that she is 2-for-2 since she began using lasix, so maybe that is really helping her. We’ll see here how much it pays off.
Prediction: 8-6-5-4
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
