The Maid of The Mist- $250.000 Purse
BEL- For Fillies Two Years Old Foaled in NY
One Mile on the Dirt
October 21, 2017

Saturday is a big day for state-bred racing in New York, as several different divisions will have races on the card. For juveniles, it’s an interesting weekend if you don’t have plans to go to DMR in a couple weeks. The Maid of the Mist provides an opportunity for female two year old New Yorkers to battle it out for a very worthwhile $250.000 purse. This is the tenth time that the race will run in our game, and it did debut back in 2004. Then, for several years it was not scheduled, or did not fill. It resurfaced in 2014 with its purse at the current level, making it a more attractive race. We started with eight, but now will have a field of seven going to the gate, so let’s look at them!

#1- Cherokee Girl (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- The maiden looks to make a jump up in class after a couple of runner ups in September at FL. There is simply not much to get excited about on her race history, but these horses are young, and you can never rule anyone out. That said, I am sure the trainer thinks his other entry gives him the better chance.

#2- Smoothie (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by D Moran)- This is the one that seems to be the trainer’s best shot. Smoothie has become a regular contestant here on the NY-bred scene, running in the Rockville Center (against the boys), and then against her own Gender for the Seeking The Ante and the Gimma. She did not win any of those, but was a contender in all of them. The works don’t stand out, but she has been better on race day.

#3- Nuns Unite (The Sidley Stud, ridden by L Saez)- The filly by Zyzoxolus has gotten her career off to a pretty good start, with two wins in seven career starts. She has also been a regular in NY-bred races, and is coming off a fine result in the Gimma last month. It was her best run to date, showing that maybe she is just wanting to add distance to her races, and that will be key to her success here. Simply duplicating that race could be enough to get the victory here, but if she can continue to improve off of that, then she may be the one to beat.

#4- Wavy (Mb Stables, ridden by J Rosario)- She is still lightly raced, and has just her maiden win in three career starts to speak of right now. That came in her debut, and the trainer put her stake company off of that win, and she showed promise in the $75.000 Fisher Debutante at ELP, but fizzled in an attempt at the Grade 2 Pocahontas. If she were more competitive there, I’d like her more here, but she was soundly beaten at CD that day.

#5- Creeparella (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by A A Gallardo)- This filly also comes out of the Gimma here last month, and she would run third, just slightly behind Nuns Unite. Her works have been pretty good, and appear to be improving since the last time she has a public mile work that can be looked at. So, if that is the case, she is going to love it as the distances keep getting longer and longer, and I think that will give her the edge over Nuns Unite, and everyone else here, in this race. She is my pick.

#6- Couldnt Tell (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Leparoux)- Broke her maiden in her fourth try, coning at SAR in July, after a couple of close calls. Off of that result, Mb Stables put her against stakes company in the Johnson. She showed early speed in that turf race, but couldn’t maintain it to the wire. Three weeks ago, the story was similar in the Grade 1 Chandler. Since the stakes are not as high here, I would not be surprised if she goes back to the tactic that worked well when she won at SAR.

#8- Phunny Devil (Asgar, ridden by V Espinoza)- It’s been a little bit since we have seen a public work on her, but she looked good the last time she did, up at WO. The trainer felt the same way, and put her against the crowd at the Grade 1 Alcibiades two weeks ago. The quick turnaround from a disappointing race gives me the impression that the trainer is abandoning the strategy from that race, so I’d be surprised to see her on the lead here. Speed figures do not particularly impress.

Prediction: 5-3-6-2

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded