Wiley – Grade I
KEE Race #3 1 1/16m Turf Graded Stake
Purse $500.000 For Fillies And Mares Four Years Old And Upward.
1 Saddle Up Our Athletes Saez L
When you see just seven runners for a grade one you can be forgiven for thinking it is a soft race but this is a long way from an easy race to win and features a couple of the best older fillies and mares in the game at the moment. That fact will make this draw so much the sweeter for Our Athletes who represents a filly that doesn’t fall into the superstar group yet but does have the ability to use this draw to get into this race. A grade three winner last year she ran well enough at this level to say she can be competitive but this is a tough field and she does look a step behind them. Not saying no but she wouldn’t be a top choice.
2 Always Condottieri Maletto Jaramillo E
This one improved nicely through her three year old season ending up with 5 wins including two ungraded stakes races. She continued that improvement into this season with a really impressive win in the Le Prevoyante Handicap in January but then things fell apart a little last time out in The Very One. Going to the front it looked a bit like a race on the old engine where the leaders inevitably faded and she ended up a bit of a lack luster fourth. I am happy to put that last defeat down to a race engine or an instructions anomaly so with yet another great draw if she gets a stalk position, which she should, i would expect a much stronger effort.
3 Yankee Stadium Smokey Stover Ferrer J C
This filly really turned it on last year winning the Rodeo Drive and only just missing in the BC Fillies and Mares Turf and then finishing the year off with a second grade one win in the American Oaks. That put her right into the top three fillies of last year and although she hasn’t won in two efforts so far this year they have both been good enough to suggest she retains most if not all of her three year old ability. Third in the Pegasus Fillies and Mares on seasonal debut she then took on the boys in the Kilroe Mile where she went to the front and did really well to be beaten just a length into fifth. There is no doubt from this draw she will be a really strong chance here but the odds may not be big enough to justify a bet.
4 Perfectly Pink The Freakshow Davis D
This five year old is a great story. Bought for $16 last Autumn she has since gone six from six for the new owner going from an optional Claimer to a double graded stakes winner in 6 months. The Freakshow must be pinching themself with this one as her improvement has been amazing winning races from five furlongs to a mile and sixteenth with her last two wins being dominant. In her last win in the Buena Vista Stakes she had Pure Motor and Ewa Beach behind and i see no reason why she wont confirm that here. That makes it between Yankee Stadium and her on paper and you just cannot ignore her amazing rise through the ranks.
5 Pure Motor Night Rider Stables Fuentes Ru
Stalked the lead in the Buena Vista last time but had no answers to Perfectly Pinks powerful finish and i can’t make a case that she can reverse that with a similar draw situation and trip today. This six year old is another that has hit a good streak of form because after three wins in a row she too has taken on stakes racing with plenty of success. It wouldn’t take much for her to win this but a top three finish is more likely.
6 Ewa Beach The American Prat F
This filly was one of the finds of the year last year and it looked like she was just continuing on the up when she came out and won the Pegasus at the start of the year which is one of the early benchmarks for these horses. Having been so consistent and so successful it was a bit of a mystery when she ran in the Buena Vista from a decent draw and didn’t really put in much of a show to be sixth. That may have been a bit of second up itus so you have to forgive her that effort because she has been so good in the past.
7 All By Myself TwinTowersRacing Velazquez J R
In normal circumstances this would be one of the leading fancies in this race but with three of the top fillies and mares in this race she finds herself in the second division as far as form goes. However, that is just where this trainer likes to be, under the radar. Second in the Hillsborough last time at this grade and the winner of the Endeavor before that she runs from the wide gate and would need a bit of luck to beat the big three here.
SUMMARY
This does seem to be a matter of which of the big three win. On Buena Vista form it would be Perfectly Pink from Yankee Stadium with Ewa beach and Pure Motor fighting for third but any combination could eventuate with the way the race engine works with instructions these days.
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
