Las Virgenes Stakes (KYO) (Grade 3)- $200.000 Purse
SA- For FIllies Three Years Old
One Mile on the Dirt
February 6, 2022

Valuable points for the KYO will be on the line, and a field of eight fillies will be looking to get the winners share of those points as well as part of the $200.000 purse. It is the 18th time that the race has run, and its purse has ranged between its present amount and $300.000. It has gradually seen its status decline, starting as a Grade 1, then being dropped to a Grade 2 in 2016 before taking another hit to a Grade 3 last year. As for that race last year, Night Rider Stables scored the win with Slckmoment Laga, a filly that would end up winning the BC Fillies and Mares Sprint at the end of the year, and she is still active. Let’s take a moment to look at our field for this edition of the race!

#1- Poison Candy (Glorify Stables, ridden by El Gonzalez)- After hitting the board in her first four starts, she finally broke through with a win in October. Glorify Stables showed how high they are on the horse by running her in the Grade 3 Mazarine BC Stables a month later, and she finished in the middle of the field. Hasn’t been worked publicly in over a month, and hopefully there has been improvement on the farm.

#2- Angelic (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- So far in her five starts, she has been rotating wins and non wins, so if that holds up, she is due for a victory. Does have one stake win on her record right now, coming at six furlongs against NY-breds in the $100.000 Key Cents. Has a win going long at FL, so we know she can get the distance. Good looking works, this is certainly one to watch.

#3- Scary Ghost (Arindel, ridden by T J Pereria)- The trainer brings us two for the race, and with Scary Ghost, it’s a filly coming off her first career win. That was not in a maiden race, though, and was actually in the $100.000 Cash Run on New Years Day, which is run at a mile. It was a win that saw a nice come from behind effort, and with that we know she elevate her game a little more here to the graded ranks.

#4- The Secret Is Out (Nakamura Stables, ridden by V R Carrasco)- Her secret has been that she likes to win, and has finished every race of her career thus far with a trip to the winners circle, a perfect 3-for-3. There is one stake mixed in there, the $60.000 AZ Juvenile Fillies Stakes, so she has certainly earned her chance to show what she can do on the KYO trail.

#5- Curlina (Arindel, ridden by E Jaramillo)- A little more than a week ago, the trainer picked this one up in private sales from Fractious for $450.000, and will now suit up in the Arindel silks for the first time. She actually made her debut in the Grade 1 Spinaway. Yes, you heard right. Goes to show how highly Fractious thought of her, and she even finished fourth there! It didn’t carry over into the Frizette, and she’d eventually drop into a MSW to win her first the conventional way. Her final race for Fractious was the $100.000 Untapable, which she won.

#6- Wilma (LionKing Stables, ridden by T Gaffalione)- The trainer did not have to spend $450.000 to pick her up, and instead only needed $25.000 to claim her from Mb Stables. She has made three starts thus far, and has been claimed twice already. This is her debut for LionKing Stables, so does he know something others haven’t picked up on? It’s her first time running a mile, but I will need to see it first before picking her.

#7- Sensation (Mb Stables, ridden by C J Hernandez)- Here is the filly in the field that has won a graded stake race, and it was a good one, taking the Grade 1 Frizette at SAR. It’s a race that got her into the BC Juvenile Fillies, also making her the only horse here to have run there. However, Sensation did not beat anyone that day, and would be seen nearly two months later in an optional claimer at GP. She was only fourth there, too. Works say this filly has plenty left (she does have a short femur), and a resurgent effort here would be great for her.

#8- Believe In Miracles (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by D Davis)- I think, by default, this horse should win given it is the start of the Winter Olympics this weekend as well. But that’s not the way this works, though this Candlestick filly is very capable. She may have just one win in six starts, but her last two races, each at a mile, saw her run especially well in the stretch to hit the board and be within a length of victory, one of them being an ungraded stake.

Prediction: 4-7-2-8

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES