The Flower Bowl (Grade 1) (BC)- $375.000 Purse
BEL- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Quarter on the Inner Turf
October 10, 2020

It is time to put the final pieces of the puzzle together for the BC Fillies and Mares Turf, and the 18th running of the Flower Bowl will help us with that. The field is full as the BC hopes are strong, so the decrease in purse has not impacted that. We have become used to seeing that purse be $500.000 or $600.000, so this drop is noteworthy, for sure. Last year, Smokey Stover picked up the win with Grand Dragonville, but she would not end up running well in the BC. Her four year old season lasted into July, and she has since been retired. Let’s take a look now at those who are very much active and ready to run on Saturday!

#1- Pennies (Arindel, ridden by D Davis)- Grabbed the attention of many when she won the Grade 3 Penny Memorial Handicap on only nine days of rest. Her name isn’t Flowers, so winning the Flower Bowl will be more of a challenge. After that win, she did get two months of rest for her next start, the Yaddo Handicap at SAR, where she was second. A couple Grade 1’s in her past did not go well, but she seems better now.

#2- Smart Queen (Night Rider Stables, ridden by Je Toledo)- Makes the 31st start of her career, and the trainer will be hoping it will lead to her ninth win. This year, she has managed just one victory in six races, coming in the $100.000 Valentine Stakes for CA-breds, but otherwise there is not much to be excited about for her this year.

#3- Holualoa (Smokey Stover, ridden by M Tunon)- This filly should give the trainer a good chance to win this race again, and if she did, it would be her third in a row. Her last win was impressive, coming in the Grade 1 Diana against several of the rivals that she sees again here. That race is a little shorter, but I don’t see anything with that effort that would have me concerned about the tenth furlong. She also has two Grade 3 wins this year.

#4- Why You Do That (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- One of two horses in this field that has made less than ten starts, and this will need to be a bounce back race for her. Last month in the Grade 2 Canadian Stakes, she was flat and never a factor and that was a disappointment because she looked to be on good form going into the race. Now, the trainer has had a month to figure out why that happened and gives her another shot here.

#5- Never Enough (Mb Stables, ridden by A Beschizza)- The second of two entries brought to the gate by Mb Stables, and she is also coming out of the Canadian Stakes. She was better then her stablemate there, and cashed a fourth place check. Prior to that, Never Enough picked up the win, on soft ground, in the Grade 1 Beverly D at AP, and that is what the trainer hopes we will see more of here. In the BEL Oaks on soft turf, she was a disappointment, so don’t dismiss that Beverly D win.

#6- Bagina (Chili King Stables, ridden by T Gaffalione)- This Condottieri filly comes here out of the Grade 1 Diana, and she passed a few late in the stretch to get up for fourth and earn a piece of the purse. Was also fourth in the Grade 1 Just A Game earlier this year. That has been her story when taking on the best in this division, she is usually able to run competitively, but has not been able to get a signature win.

#7- Mean On The Green (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by M J Sanchez)- The trainer hopes to be rewarded for his patience with this filly as she makes just the seventh start of her career. Two of those are wins, and they come in her last three starts. Now, she makes a big jump forward, moving up from CA-bred optional claimers, and one stake, and taking on top flight opposition. Speed figures don’t jump out at you but the key for her is the final quarter mile, and I think she is going to impress in the stretch.

#8- Pirate Petranella (Diablo Diablo, ridden by J Stein)- Last year, she would get everyone’s attention when she won the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, and she started off this year well also, by winning the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride. At the time, that was her fourth win in a row, so it is surprising that she has not won again since then. She has fallen off the radar a little bit, but is hoping to get rolling again, as she ran well in the Canadian Stakes, placing third, higher than a couple of rivals she sees here again.

#9- Cest And Me (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by J Lezcano)- From time to time, this filly has had a big race, but they have not come consistently enough. Nearly won the Grade 1 Wiley, missing the headbob at the wire, but then had two dismal outings. Then, when you want to write her off, she bounces back to run third in the Diana, but can’t follow that up. Which Cest And Me will show up? Not a horse I could ever put money on.

#10- Formalhaut (John Henry, ridden by G Franco)- This six year old mare has been around the block, and makes her 38th career start. In that time, she has managed nine wins with two of them coming this year. The most intriguing run she has had this year, though, is a race where she was second, as that was in the Grade 1 Gamely, and she just missed by a nose. So, she keeps on ticking and there’s no reason to think she will stop here.

#11- Trippi Tip Toe (Estero Farms, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- Finished second in the BC Fillies and Mares Turf last year, missing out by a length. As she tries to get back there and do one spot better in 2020, the Better Tip Toe filly has just one win and one place in five starts, and that win came back in March. A lot has certainly happened since that day at SA in the Santa Ana Stakes. Was a non factor in the Diana, her last start.

#12- Fixes (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by Mar Garcia)- Either this filly wins, or she doesn’t do much at all. In eleven starts, she has picked up six wins, highlighted by the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap at DMR two months ago. Those are also the only times that she has been able to hit the board, so perhaps she is a little like Cest And Me and you don’t know which filly is going to show up. If anyone can get a turf horse righted, this is the trainer.

Prediction: 3-8-10-5

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES