The Vagrancy Handicap (Grade 3)- $175.000 Purse
AQU- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Dirt
May 18, 2024

It’s time to take a look at the Grade 3 Vagrancy Handicap, which is a sprint for older females that runs for the 20th time. This is traditionally a race at BEL, but like others, it runs at the Big A this year. Purses for the race have historically ranged between $150.000 and $200.000 over the last two decades, so not much has changed here other than the location of the race. In 2023, Nolo Contendere won the race for Riggins Racing, and she would go on to run in the BC Fillies and Mares Sprint later in the year. She is still active but will not be here to defend her title. While this may be a handicap, weight will not come into play here as the entire field, with one exception, carries 119 pounds and the exception carries 120. Here is a look at our field of seven:

1- Miss Hennessy (Wood Duck Stables, ridden by K Carmouche)- Enters the Vagrancy Handicap on a six-race winning streak after making her debut. They all came in optional claimers, mostly at WO or SA, and it hasn’t mattered what surface she has been on. Now, she is going to make her stake debut, something that she has certainly earned. Hard to bet against someone who is 7-for-8, but I’m interested to see how she does here. Not only is she used to winning, she’s used to wearing #1. It’s her fourth time starting from the rail in her last five starts.

2- Spring Street (High Voltage, ridden by R A Vazquez)- A highly inconsistent horse over her career. Comes into the race off a dud, placing 11th in the Grade 1 Vinery Madison. We can forgive the result of the BC Fillies and Mares Sprint if it was a one off, but looking back at her history, this is simply a horse that you have no idea what you are going to get. She has proven that when she is on, she can be as good as anyone, but is that side of her going to show up for this race?

3- Midnight Star (Smokey Stover, ridden by J P Spencer)- Ran in a graded race for the first-time last month, taking on a strong field in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom, and ran eighth. She does not go long much, though, and is much more commonly seen in races around the distance for this race. You can go back over a year to find a stake win, which also came at the racetrack, but she has mostly been a highly productive horse in overnights. I really like her works and expect her to be a contender in this race.

4- Shes So Pure (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by J P Spencer)- Not a horse with much experience winning, as she has only done so once over her 17 starts. That took a while for her to get, too, and there are several examples of the trainer simply bypassing the maiden condition in her placement. Ultimately, she did break that in the conventional manner. When against stake company, she has not stepped up, making her hard to pick here. Traditionally is a pace setter, though I do not rule out the trainer trying something different.

5- Great Zipadeedoodah (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by J A Gomez)- Don’t think I am going to enjoy typing out “Zipadeedoodah” pretty often, but this eight-year-old mare will have us singing her name if she pulls out the win in her stake debut. Hard to believe she has only made eleven career starts and had a hiatus of over three years in her previous barn. Once arriving with Maxmillion Farm, she’s gotten regular action, which has been exclusively in overnights. Won her last start, her second victory, at GP and now faces her biggest test.

6- Stick Low (John Henry, ridden by I Castillo)- John Henry picked this one up in private sales last month for $110.000. Prior to Stick Low’s last race, she had won four straight, all coming in overnights, before prior trainer Luz International entered her in the $125.000 Queen Stakes at TP. A fourth-place finish there may have ended the streak but was not a poor performance. You can go back to 2022 and 2023 to see prior stake attempts out of this one, and now John Henry hopes to unleash that side of her.

7- Flyingbolt (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by G Kocakaya)- On the outside, this six-year-old filly will make her 37th career start and hopes that it results in her sixteenth victory. One of those starts was the 2022 edition of the Vagrancy Handicap, but that is not a career highlight. Most of her wins have come in high priced allowances or ungraded stakes, but also, most of them were in 2021 and 2022. Despite the overall career record, Flyingbolt actually hasn’t won in over a year. She’s been close, though, as just last month, she was the runner up in the $200.000 Roxelana.

Prediction: 3-1-7-5

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES