The Fritchie Stakes – Grade III
LRL Race #19 7f Dirt Graded Stake
Purse $250.000 For Fillies And Mares Four Years Old And Upward.
What a waste having all these wonderful fillies and mares running against each other when there are plenty of open graded stakes out there to win. On a serious note this is a hot field and the way things are any one of them could lay claim to top sprinting honors by the end of the year.
This is how they line up and with no weight advantage, only the draw disadvantage comes into play although with seven runners that shouldn’t even be a problem. So who will lead and stand the best chance, who will stalk and hold some chance, who will trail and basically only stand a chance if they go 21 seconds in the first quarter, lets try and find out:
1 Canary For One Mo Mentum Farm Lezcano J
Claimed from Wood Duck Stables for just $12.50 the trainer soon got the hang of this four year old and had her winning a couple of very nice allowance races. She easily made the transition to stakes racing with a close third in the Dream Supreme and then took a last gasp win in the Garland of Roses Handicap. Her first start of the season saw a rotten draw in the Inside Information and after the infamous slow start made ground into fourth which was not a bad effort n the circumstances. There are some big names in this race but with the ace draw this one has surprise winner written all over it.
2 Unspoken London Racing Franco M
This trainer enters their fifth year of training and has built a decent operation with purchases like this filly. As a five year old with only seven starts she is an untapped talent but has already shown enough to suggest there is more to come. I think she is a sprinter and this trip is her best and she showed plenty to win the Interborough last time by a fairly easy two lengths. Her works suggest she is up to this grade but this is a big step up in class and she will have to produce a lifetime best and then some. The draw is perfect and that is a real plus and as a five year old she does have that slight advantage over the fours at this time of year.
3 Dialing Angelos Stable Garcia Mar
A brilliant claim at just $37.50 back in June last year she has paid that back and some since moving to this veteran stable. She won the Bessarabian Stakes over this trip with a perfect transit in race and backed that up in the La Brea last time when looking the winner coming into the straight but having to settle for third. Her works have been lightening since then and lets not forget she beat the BC Fillies and Mares Sprint winner home in the La Brea from a similar draw situation that she faces today. Not one of the big names but a winning chance.
4 Starting Over TwinTowersRacing Gaffalione T
She is developing into a quality filly after being brought along slowly and taking her time to break maidens. In real life she would be impossible to weigh up going on her last two runs but those efforts demonstrate just how unrealistic HRP can be with regards to horse preferences and shouldn’t be taken on face value. She took the four runner Ocala Stakes at the end of last year over this trip and surface but then started this year off with a win in the Astra Stakes over 12 furlongs on the turf, quite a contrast . The bottom line, ignoring the contrast as you have to, is that good horses win on anything here at HRP and this is a good one. Is she good enough to beat these top sprinting fillies and mares, well maybe not yet, but this trainer has proved me wrong too many times to count.
5 Slckmoment Laga Night Rider Stables Carmouche K
There is no real reason this four year old should have started a racing decline but her first up effort in the La Brea was definitely below par. I am willing to forgive her that because she was so brilliant last year especially when you consider how tough it was for three year olds. Even if you ignored her stunning win in the BC Fillies and Mares Sprint she has plenty of other great performances to chose from not least her grade one win in the Test. She takes on Precise Performance and Top Billing again today with the score at one all but slckmoment Laga doesn’t get the weight allowance this year so may find things tougher. A winning chance of course but i will need to see improvement on her first up effort.
6 Top Billing Smokey Stover Boyce F
With the three most accomplished horses in the outside draws this is like a handicap that’s not a handicap….i think i have said that before. Anyway this four year old is one all against Slckmont Laga but as yet to beat Precise Performance so will have to step up her game to win today. She developed into a top filly last year with a second in the Ballerina and a close up seventh in the BC Fillies and Mares sprint so it was surprising to see her slumming in at HOU on seasonal debut but she cantered home as expected and will be as sharp as a tack for this.
7 Precise Performance Mb Stables Talamo J
The winner of the 2020 BC Distaff and the runner up in the BC Fillies and Mares Sprint last year she is one of the top females in the game. She has beaten every fancied horse in this race before but has one thing against her here and that is the wide draw. She has been drawn in the top three in her last seven starts so this will be a test against very good rivals and she will have to be on top of her game to gain er eleventh career win.
SUMMARY
Well this looks like a trifecta for the 5,6 and 7 on paper but HRP hasn’t been as straight forward as that for a while and the other rivals are good enough to cause an upset. I would put Top Billing on top today merely because she is in form and i feel there are questions to be answered for Slckmont Laga. As for Precise Performance the wide draw may cause her problems even though there are only seven runners but out of the three she is probably showing the best recent form. If you are looking for odds to spice things up maybe Dialing could be the one to get in among them.
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
