Hendrie Stakes (Grade 3)- $125.000 Purse
WO- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Dirt
June 9, 2019

The day after the BEL will be somewhat quiet in terms of stake racing throughout the game, but we’ll still have some interesting races going on. North of the border on Sunday, we will have a field of seven contesting the 14th running of the Hendrie Stakes. It’s a smaller Grade 3 event for female sprinters and it attracts a good mix of accomplished runners and horses looking to make a splash at this level. Past winners include Avery Island, but also T S Devil, who won the race in both 2015 and 2016 for Triple K. Let’s take a look at our field!

#1- Returned (Axeman, ridden by P Husbands)- Starting on the rail, this Zero Return filly has been doing a good job hitting the board so far in 2019, and has been second in her last four starts. That’s great and all, but the trainer is hoping for a win. Looked sharp in her last race, where she was only defeated by Diplomatic Chaos in the Vagrancy Handicap (Grade 3) at BEL last month.

#2- Eros (Smokey Stover, ridden by L Contreras)- This filly has had a successful career, and has run well so far this year, too. She ran second in both the Santa Monica and the La Brea, and third in the Beholder (Grade 1) before being sold from Fractious. Made her Smoeky Stover debut last month in the Humana Distaff (Grade 1), and was second. Based on that, you wonder if her trailer took a wrong turn and headed north of the border when maybe there was something at BEL for her on Saturday. As long as she’s here, she’s the one to beat.

#3- Plucky Riddle (Tiratzo, ridden by E J Wilson)- The five year old Plucky Mach mare was highly successful in the optional claiming ranks, and is hoping to turn that into her significant stake win, other then a $25.000 TUP Stake. Ran well on the grass in her last start, the $75.000 Mizdirection at SA, and returns to the main track here to meet a tougher crowd, but she is working well coming into the race.

#4- The Reaper (John Henry, ridden by Alan Garcia)- Career start #42 is coming up for The Reaper, and she is continuing to excel. The 2015 KYO winner added to her graded stake win total this year by winning the Grade 3 Bayakoa at GP in February. For most of her career, she has run long, but she has this side of her, too, where she has been a successful sprinter. The last time she ran a distance like this was in January, and she won the $75.000 Kalookan Queen at SA. No reason to believe this start cannot be just as good as any of her others.

#5- Laffin At Ya (Chili King Stables, ridden by E R Da Silva)- Ran in the Hendrie last year, and finished third. This remains her best career finish in a graded stake, and so far in 2019 she has been pretty quiet with just a lone third place finish to show for her four starts. She is used to this distance, so that is a plus, but I have to believe that Chili King Stables was hoping not to see runners like Eros in the field. Laffin At Ya is capable, but will have to be at her absolute best.

#6- Tulia (Crocker Ggs, ridden by R M Hernandez)- A lightly raced horse as of late, that will be making just her second start since November 2018. She was last seen three months ago, in a TP optional claimer, a race that she won. It’ll be her graded stake debut here today, as well. She has tried some ungraded stakes in her career, most of them as a two year old, but none of them ended with her in the winners circle. Worked well here last week, and has done well in her career on this track.

#7- Miss Myers (Oquinn Farm, ridden by G Boulanger)- This is the only horse in the field that is affected by a weight penalty, and it will have her carrying two more pounds then everyone else. To have that, it means you are doing things right, and two starts ago she won the Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes at SA. Her last time out saw her finish third in the Vagrancy Handicap at BEL, one spot behind Returned, but there was not much between them. I like her consistency, and expect her to run well.

Prediction: 2-7-4-1

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES