Bewitch (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
KEE- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Half on the Turf
April 23, 2021

This Saturday at KEE, older females that like to keep in running on the grass will head to the starting gate for the 17th running of the Grade 3 Bewitch. It offers a $150.000 purse to be divided up between its top four finishers, and that amount has been mostly constant throughout the history of the race. Last year, we had to contend with an off track, but that did not ruin the day for Rheingold Stables, who won the race with Quest For Fame. Has that filly found additional fame afterwards? Somewhat, as she has won another Grade 3 since then, but has not really stepped up in class. Nothing wrong with that, though, and the trainer will be looking for another win here with a new filly. Let’s meet her and the others now!

#1- Big Fajita (Rheingold Stables, ridden by F Geroux)- We get right to the filly that Rheingold is looking to as he hopes to repeat as the Bewitch winner. Big Fajita has been good in the past, with six wins in her 15 career starts but none of those are in a stake. She has been very close to such a win though, with two runner ups in ON-bred stakes, then another place in the Grade 3 Astra Stakes. That was also at this distance. Meets some tough foes here, but she can handle them, too.

#2- Insist You Fail (Rock Creek, ridden by J J Castellano)- Up until October, this filly was running in smaller claimers, but she has gone to a new level after Rock Creek claimed her for $7.500. The trainer has added to her distance, and the results have been better. She is still running in a stake for the first time here, but she has earned the chance. To pick her, I would have needed to see better SRF’s associated with her.

#3- Pirate Petranella (Smokey Stover, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- A well accomplished filly that has won over $1,300.000 for her career, including a BC Juvenile Fillies Turf win. More recently, she won the Grade 1 Flower Bowl last October while running for Diablo Diablo. Smokey picked her up for $1,000.000 in mid-November, and so far has a couple of runner ups to show for it. On paper, she is the one to beat, and it is hard not to pick her.

#4- Amaris (First Street Stables, ridden by A Beschizza)- This filly by Point Of Entry has been in the money for 13 of her 18 career starts, and six of them have seen her in the winners circle. She’s been second in graded races a couple times, but has yet to win one. Did win an ungraded stake last December going 11 furlongs. She is the type that can make sure Pirate Petranella is at her best and should not be overlooked.

#5- Sweetness (High Voltage, ridden by L Saez)- A winner in five of her 19 career starts, but has not won a race since last June. That day, she won the Grade 2 Dance Smartly Stakes at WO, and after the race, she began to be entered in stronger company. That never ended up working out for her, and as she has come back down the ladder to Grade 3’s, she has been closer to ending that winless streak.

#6- Shunned (Night Rider Stables, ridden by T Gaffalione)- A well bred filly, especially for the grass, would only seem to be a natural to become a graded winner. Up to this point, she is lightly raced, with just six career starts, and has two wins. She’s tried an ungraded stake once, and it did not go well, but it has been a while. Her pedigree is the most appealing thing about her, though.

#7- Number Nine (Spankys Barn, ridden by J Rosario)- This looks to be the biggest threat to Pirate Petranella in the race. The last time she raced, it was in January for the Astra Stakes, where she beat Big Fajita at the wire in a tight photo. What separates her from that one more, though, is her overall history of success at this level. She has three wins in six starts, also including the Grade 3 Waya. Against much better in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive, she was a respectable fifth. Has plenty of experience running this distance, and she’ll make sure the field is running from the start if her typical tactical form holds out. Plenty to like with her.

#8- Emmy (Our Athletes, ridden by J R Velazquez)- This five year old mare by Strategic Command will be making her 23rd career start, and she has had a few ungraded and graded attempts sprinkled in during that time. She is still looking for her first win in one, however, as her closest call came near Thanksgiving, placing second in the Grade 3 Cardinal Handicap. Has some experience with this distance, but has not won at more than a mile and a sixteenth.

Prediction: 3-7-4-1

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES