4/17/21

  2   OP   The Apple Blossom Hcp (GI)

         $1,000.000     4YO&Up F&M      1 1/16m Dirt      Hcp Weights

My old buddy Ed Seay would take off every spring, head back down to Arkansas just to take in the Apple Blossom Hcp (GI) and I’ll be thinking of him as I write this one.  We get a nice field of nine for this $1,000.000 purse and this race has been won by a who’s-who of great race mares… who’s ready to step up?  I’m not even sure “up” is the right word for La Marseillaise… she is always on top of her game, well… except when she isn’t.  I know, I know, silly talk… but she really is a all or nothing mare, and I’m looking for another big race here today.  Laffy Crack has been very consistent in her last three and ran second to the top choice last out, so these two know each other and she could turn the tables.  Let’s keep the consistency going and give Beldame a big shot here today.  She was fifth over this track last out and when that is your recent low spot… that’s not so low.  Look for her to improve from that and be a factor.

Here’s The Field –

Has won both of her ’21 starts, which is more than she won in ’20, total.  Took down an Alw group then won a LA-bred stakes, both at FG and both at a 1m70yd distance.  This is a step up, and she failed vs graded horses in the Bayakoa Hcp (GIII) so it’s time to keep it going or keep on going.

When she’s hot, she’s hot… and when she’s not, let’s skip that part.  Four win from her last six starts including the BC F&M Sprint (GI), along with the Fritchie (GIII) and the Beholder (GI) in her most recent.  The other two races were dead-last, never involved starts… so you know what you get here.  All, or nothing. 

Four wins for this filly last season but she’s 0-2 this year after a third and a fifth, both vs. graded horses.  That last out fifth was over this surface, and at today’s distance, so a tiring effort again will not be in her best interest.  Can she bounce back?  I think so.

Three wins from his last five starts but most of those starts were for a tag and there are certainly no claimers to beat up on here.  This is a deep, talented field and this filly will need her best.  Good start last out when fourth over this track vs. graded horses so now it’s up a step.

Has a few really really big victories like taking the Mother Goose (GII), but then a couple of off-the-board finishes took her down to the Alw level where she’s been third in her last two starts.  She’s shown it before, can she get back to that?
 

She’s been sharp of late, winning the La Canada (GII) then getting the runner-up spot in her last two, the Bayakoa (GIII) and the Beholder (GI).  There’s no doubt that this girl is competitive in any field and you have to give her a big chance to be in the middle of this one as well.

Makes her first start for the big barn after a $500.000 change of hands, and she’s about as consistent as you could want.  She had one win last season but was close in just about every single start, and has carried that over into this season with two thirds, both at the graded level.  Does she pay-off in her first start for the connections?

She was third vs. graded horses back in Sep but has been racing at the Alw level since that one with mixed results.  She won last out at SA going six panels so it’s a step up in distance and class, which is a bit to ask in my eye.  I’ll look at some others.

Ten wins in thirty-one lifetime starts, but she’s been off the board in her last five since winning the Humana Distaff (GI) at CD last spring.  She put some good money in the bank but she’s been on a string of less than great results.  Her best would put her in it, but does she still have her best?

COZMAN 2 / 6 / 3          Willie’s Green Card   2 / 7 / 6

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES