The Go For Wand Handicap (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
AQU- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile on the Dirt
December 5, 2020
While the males will get to run for $500.000 in the Cigar Mile Handicap here at AQU, the race with similar conditions, the females won’t even race for a third of that. This is the 15th running of the Go For Wand Handicap, and the race has seen a $100.000 purse reduction from last year, but unlike the cut in the Cigar Mile, this is not simply a return to where it had been in many years prior. Despite this, we still get a field of eight set to go to post and accomplish what Class Status did for Team 7 Illusions last year. That filly is now with Fractious, and recently was seen in the BC Fillies and Mares Sprint, so good to see she is still running well. One thing that was evident in the Cigar Mile, too, is the amount of horses that ran in the BC last month. Here, we don’t have anyone who did. Let’s meet the runners!
#1- Gingers A Ten (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by K Carmouche)- On the rail, this Ginger Haggis filly makes the 23rd start of her career, and will be looking to pick up her first graded win. She has had a few tries, but her best results have come in overnights or in ungraded stakes. Doesn’t run terribly, and you can certainly see her hitting the board here, but not one that I can put on top.
#2- Girls Night (D J C Racing Stables ,ridden by F Pennington)- This filly has been able to win four out of ten starts, but is also looking for her first graded win. Had a three race winning streak last winter that was highlighted by winning the $100.000 East View here in March. Predominantly, Girls Night has been a sprinter for her career, but did break her maiden running a mile.
#3- Amaris (First Street Stables, ridden by J Alvarado)- Here is a consistent horse, with 12 in the money finishes out of her 15 career starts, and it has been fourteen months since she last failed to get some portion of the purse for her trainer. Much of that is in overnights, but she did win the $75.000 Tomboy at BTP in July. Returns to the main track for the first time in five races.
#4- Pink Authority (Smokey Stover, ridden by M Franco)- An experienced PA-bred by Good Authority that is looking for her ninth win. Like those starting on her inside, she has never won a graded stake, but has pulled off a total of four ungraded victories, including the $100.000 Plum Pretty, for PA-breds, twice. Perhaps, this is her time.
#5- Spy On Hollywood (Estero Farms, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- A consistent filly that has hit the board nine times in her eleven starts, and will be looking for her fourth win. Most recently, she raced in the $175.000 Empire Distaff, for NY-breds at BEL, and won the race at a similar distance. Like the others, she is looking for her first graded win, and has as good a chance as any in here.
#6- On The Flop (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by J Lezcano)- She is the highest earner in this field to date, having amassed $643.100 in her career. Part of that is something that no one else here has, and that is a graded win. That was also her last start, coming in the $400.000 PID Masters Stakes at that very race track. She’ll carry 120 pounds here, but everyone carries 118 or 120, so that should not make too much of a difference. The bigger issue is the distance, going at least a mile has not resulted in her better race lines.
#7- Miss Flora (Nakamura Stables, ridden by N Juarez)- While the Brave Decision filly does not have a graded win to her credit, she did pick up a very nice win in June, capturing the $250.000 Bison City Stakes at WO, for Canadians, against three others. Followed that up decently with a second place run at the MTH Oaks. Afterwards, she attempted the turf, and after a couple months off, resurfaces here. I’m not won over by her works, though.
#8- Decima Divo (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by D E Centeno)- After needing eight starts to break her maiden, Decima Divo has decided she likes winning, and has not done anything else since. Here, she looks to extend her streak to four as she makes her stake debut. It is certainly earned, but she also stretches out here, and like Miss Flora, I am not excited about her mile works for the race.
Prediction: 4-5-1-6
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
