Bayakoa Handicap (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
DMR- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
December 3, 2016

The second running of the Bayakoa Handicap takes place this Saturday at DMR and the size of the field will be as full as it was the first time it ran, in 2014.  Just four will go, and based on that it’s likely that the race just didn’t fill last year.  The race is for fillies and mares that like to go long, and the size of the purse seems attractive.  However, the size of the field is small, but at least the horses that will be running seem nicely balanced and should provide us with a good race.  Let’s meet our participants!

#1- The Reaper (Heavens Own, ridden by R Bejarano)- On the rail, this filly by Holly Summer has won some of the biggest races that a female can win in their younger days.  In 2014, she was the winner of the BC Juvenile Fillies, part of a big 4-race win streak she had at that time. Last year, she went on to win the KYO.  Everything was great, but then she would go 13 months before she even hit the board again.  That was in an open allowance at WO this June, and perhaps she needed the confidence reboot as she has responded well in her next two races, which are a pair of runner up finishes in a pair of Grade 3 events. Winning here would be a great way to close out this season which may not have lived up to the trainer’s $600.000 private sales purchase price.   She’s probably the horse to beat here.

#2- Mischief Made (Mb Stables, ridden by J Talamo)- Impressively, she has won 10 of her fifteen current races, including a five-for-six clip this year.  In the mix of those victories are a few graded wins, including her most recent start, the Grade 2 Bloom Handicap as well as the Grade 3 Vagrancy Handicap in May.  Now, if you are thinking to yourself, aren’t those sprints? Well, you would be correct.  The question surrounding Mischief Made here will be the distance as she has never gone more then seven furlongs in her career.  The trainer has her in a great spot to test and see how she can fare against good, but perhaps not elite competition while going long.

#3- Princess Legion (John Henry, ridden by T C Baze)- Purchased just last Saturday by the current trainer from Aml Racing for $150.000, John Henry puts his Legion filly right out there and she looks good in this spot.  The three year old has won four of ten, including the Grade 3 ONT Matron up at WO in July.  Her most recent start was strong as well, where she came from behind to place second in the Grade 2 Chilukki at CD last month, a race that was half a furlong shorter, so who’s to say she would not have won that as well if not at today’s distance.  She’s working well and ready to race.  Occasionally it looks like she has a head scratcher type of a race, but if she builds off the Chilukki, she’s can and should win this race.

#4- Ghastly (Asgar, ridden by V Espinoza)- Rounding out our field, Asgar has finished second in over half of her races in her career, but only this year, perhaps, has she been able to get to winner’s circle a little better.  Her last two starts are wins, highlighted by the $50.000 My Sister Pearl, for WV-breds, about three weeks ago. She has run well in WV-bred stakes over her career, but has also ventured out of that like she will be here with a few graded attempts, though has not hit the board in one yet.  The Sister Pearl, at CT, was her first race over a mile, and it came on two weeks rest, and the race prior was also on two weeks rest.   Add all that up, and this is race four in seven weeks.

Prediction: 3-1-2-4

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES