Surrey-ENG (SUR) – Saturday, September 22, 2018 — 3:00:00 PM EST
Filly Grand Prix – 8 Furlongs on Turf
Grade I — Purse : $750,000
Restricted to 2 Year Olds, Fillies Only
Fourteen of the most promising fillies on turf meet in Surrey this weekend to see who is the strongest going a mile. One starter, Light So Bright, has a G1 win to her credit but starts out in the morning line behind eight other horses. Is this easy money or the sign of a truly unpredictable race?
Dishing it Up (9/1) will start on the rail. She will cross the Irish Sea for the first time to return to the country of her birth after four starts, three wins, in Ireland. Took the G2 Young Lady last time out over seven furlongs in a fast race. On that occasion it took coming from 6-3/4 lengths back to win at the line and she might have a little more space to time the kick this time.
Next to her is Bed Timer (34/1), the longshot in the field who has yet to crack 70 with her speed figures. Two wins from six, but eleventh in a G2 race at this track in August. The odds are even more stacked against her this time.
Bless You Cadet (9/1) is the offspring of G1 winner Homestyles, who took home the Queen Ascot Stakes at Surrey in 2014. She has won at this distance before, an allowance race in her last start after two improving but unremarkable results in ungraded stakes races.
Boomfield (9/1) is a perfect two for two thus far in her career. Winning an eight furlong allowance race in Kentucky rather comfortably last month was enough for her connections to roll the dice and bring her back across the Atlantic for a big next challenge.
Dream Ridge (20/1) may not be the most talented thoroughbred in this field, but she has had a very respectable juvenile season. Steady improvement with each start, now winning two of three as a relative longshot. This probably can’t be repeated against such a deep field but still a filly who could compete at the lower levels in the future.
Starting in the sixth position on Saturday will be another unbeaten youngster, She’s Sleeping (8/1). Had a fairly easy go of it in two prior races, but will be facing a field that constitutes more than Irish breds for the first time in her career.
Otto Benny (7/1) was stellar in the G3 Premie Champion Stakes in July. As the only filly in the field, she nearly picked off Hussle Hard at the line and clearly showed an ability at the graded stakes level. She isn’t the favorite but will certainly be the pick of many on Saturday.
Also not the favorite, but perhaps an oversight? Light So Bright (11/1) cruised in the G1 Wet Bikini Stakes. After a few starts on dirt, she has really taken to the grass and the greater distance. My pick to win.
Total Newb (9/1) came in third at the G1 More Glare Stakes in her last start following three straight victories. She’s stretching out a bit on this occasion and has had the most success at 6.5 furlongs but part of a deep bench of fillies with the talent to hit the board.
K’s Special Agent (5/1), the third unbeaten horse in the race, is the daughter of millionaire he-mare K’s Secret Service. Another Irish filly who started out in local bred races and is now facing a much tougher challenge. Still, her blistering time over 7.5 furlongs last time out is better than anyone else has posted.
Go Buy Tumble (14/1) always manages to make her connections some sim bucks. Not really a challenger for the win but will probably pick off a few fast starters one by one down the stretch.
In the twelfth post is Land Now (18/1), whose view of racing is to go big or go home. She hasn’t gone home with a win yet in her career, but has respectable finishes in three stakes races (two graded). Maybe someday she will get a chance to clean up against lighter competition. Not on Saturday.
Crying Zou (9/1) finished second in the G1 More Glare Stakes and may look to push the pace a bit without any clear frontrunners to compete with. That finish was a bit of a heartbreaker as she was passed at the end by a big underdog.
Crying Lines (10/1) also has Street Cry as her dam-sire. A bit up and down on dirt, she switched to the turf in her last race and came in second to Dishing it Up at the Young Lady. Revenge for her first graded stakes win this weekend would be rather sweet.
Prediction:
- Light So Bright
- K’s Special Agent
- Bless You Cadet
Views (299)
Congrats to the winner! Total Newb ran a great race.
I was perplexed how bad She’s Sleeping ran. Didn’t expect that. But at the same time, pleased with Otto Benny. I think with her long time off since her last race (and the same probably applies to the 3rd place filly), I’m not sure my filly ran her best race. And even with that she got a nice 2nd and is ranked 4th in the division. In fact, the top 3 finishers of this race now occupy the 3 of the top 4 rankings in the filly turf route division. I think Otto Benny is setup nicely to fire her best race at the Breeder’s Bowl.
And thank you to both mlafort4 and abcde…we got double coverage of this race and both articles were great!
Thanks for the article! I have 2 entries and I’m hoping at least one of them gets a piece. Tough field. Good luck to everybody!
Thanks for the write up, looks like this filly loves the turf mile like her mum Homestyles, can’t wait to see this race play out
Nice write up. I would probably like my horse to have a target to sit off of. An unconsted lead would not be a great second choice.
Tough Field.
An uncontested lead would be a great second choice.
Yeah, surprising for a full field not to have at least a horse or two that clearly likes the lead, yours looks like the closest to a frontrunner. Good luck!