Modesty Handicap (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
AP- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and Three Sixteenths on the Turf
July 13, 2019
A field of six will be heading to the gate for the 15th running of the Grade 3 Modesty Handicap, and they will be happy to see the purse has been increased by $50.000 to where it had been for the last two years. The field was small last year as well when Bounding Away got the win, a victory that was the third of a four race streak for her, and she has remained a consistent finisher, though has shortened up her distance. Jockey J Valdivia Jr will be looking for his third straight win in the race, and Maxmillion Farm hopes he gets it. Let’s meet the field!
#1- Sandset (Smokey Stover, ridden by C H Marquez Jr)- Made her debut for Smokey Stover, following a $350.000 private sales transaction from Team 7 Illusions, and ran second on soft turf in the ET Mint Julep Handicap. For as many races she has been in, it is concerning to see that she has only won twice. The new trainer has his work cut out for him to get Sandset more trips to the winners circle. He didn’t pay $350.000 for third place checks.
#2- Agenda (Mb Stables, ridden by M Murrill)- Has a strong track record, with seven wins and five places in her 18 career starts, but is coming off a couple of disappointing fifth place efforts. She drops down in class from those races, the Grade 1 Wiley and Grade 2 The NY, and this should mean well for her. The trainer may also be looking for her to not go right to the front like she did in those races.
#3- Change Perception (Mb Stables, ridden by J V Bridgmohan)- She is much like her stablemate in that she knows how to be a part of the exacta, doing so in 13 of her 18 career starts, and eight of those are wins. Unlike her stablemate, her last two races are victories, coming in an allowance, and in a $75.000 ungraded stake, the Possibly Perfect at SA. She’s run at the graded level a few times, but has yet to win any of them,
#4- Summer Beauty (Spankys Barn, ridden by C A Emigh)- Comes into this race off a five month layoff. Last time we saw her, was way up the track in a turf sprint on soft turf. If, in that time, she has been getting it back together, she has been good in the past, as she did manage to be in the BC Juvenile Turf last year. She didn’t beat anyone there, though. Surprised to see a horse like this take so much time off, so it’s a victory for patience if she gets it done in this race.
#5- Z Fan (Nakamura Stables, ridden by E T Baird)- The Z Jinxed One mare has won eight of 22 races in her career, and they have been pretty well spaced out. The highlight of that was a late 2018 win in the $200.000 Ticonderoga at BEL for NY-breds. Since then, she has not always been racing at the stake level. This is just the third start of the year for her, and first since late April.
#6- Destination Ny (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by J Valdivia Jr)- The jockey has been aboard the last two winners of this race, and he will look to get Destination Ny into the winners circle for the third time in what is her 16th start. She has been seen in a couple big races, and is a winner of the Grade 3 IA Oaks, but lately she has not impressed. Her last start was a TUP allowance, which interestingly was on just two weeks rest, and she was third of five. She hasn’t raced since, and it’s been three months.
Prediction: 2-3-1-4
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
