FILLY & MARE TURF DIARY
JUNE 9, 2005
by Jennifer Caldwell
The Filly & Mare Turf division has found a couple of new stars
in MEA DOMINA (Dance Brightly) and MELHOR AINDA (Pulpit). The former scored a gate-to-wire victory in Hollywood Park’s Gamely Breeders’ Cup H. (G1)
on Memorial Day. Despite the fact she was going up against the likes of multiple Grade 1
queen Island Fashion (Petionville) and multiple Group 1 winner Miss Terrible
(Arg) (Numerous), the betting public made the four-year-old miss the 2-1 choice,
along with her entrymate, SOLAR ECHO (Spinning World). Mea Domina took the lead
and never looked back en route to her half-length score, which was her first at
the graded level.
The Ron McAnally trainee has been tearing up the grass since
breaking her maiden in late August at Del Mar, which was her first start on the
turf. She stayed on the green to take the Harold C. Ramser S. in her next one,
but was displaced back to the dirt for a try at the La Brea S. (G1). One
sixth-place finish later and McAnally switched her back to her preferred
service, where she immediately captured two allowances. In one of those, the bay lass posted a 101 BRIS Speed rating, which she bettered in
the Gamely with a 103 Speed figure.
Solar Echo didn’t do so bad for herself, giving McAnally a
one-two finish in the Grade 1 event while coming from well off the pace. She
recorded her fourth straight runner-up finish, all by close margins.
The gray five-year-old has run up a line of 8-3-5-0 from three years of racing,
and returned earlier this year after missing the entire 2004 season. She could break
through with a win in her next one after garnering triple-digit Speed ratings
from her past two.
Melhor Ainda remains unbeaten from four starts after taking the
Sands Point S. (G3) at Belmont Park on Sunday. The Bobby Frankel charge rated in
midpack for much of the nine-furlong grass test, before drawing clear to score
by 2 3/4 lengths at the wire. She broke her maiden by 3 1/2 lengths in
mid-September, captured the Miss Grillo S. by eight lengths after that and made
her 2005 bow a 3 1/2-length victory in the Appalachian S. Melhor Ainda has yet
to face anyone who could really challenge her, so I’m not going to get carried
away yet. However, she does seem the best in her age group
at this point and should be considered a threat when she does step up to the
next level.
On a quick side note, MY TYPHOON (Ire) (Giant’s Causeway) has
been something of a disappointment so far. Out of French champion Urban Sea
(Miswaki), the chestnut is a half-sister to European champion Galileo (Sadler’s
Wells) and highweight Black Sam Bellamy (Sadler’s Wells) as well as last year’s
English Oaks (Eng-G1) runner-up All Too Beautiful (Sadler’s Wells). My Typhoon
hasn’t come anywhere close to living up to her siblings’ accomplishments and has
a long way to go if she wants to fill the hoofsteps left behind by her family.
There are just two runners I’d like to mention before ending
this Diary. STARKAY (NZ) (Towkay) has been racking up the wins at Hollywood
since early May, taking two allowances before scoring in Friday’s Exotic Wood S.
The five-year-old mare could take the next step up and try graded competition
next, so be on the lookout. THREE DEGREES (Ire) (Singspiel [Ire]) faced 12
rivals in Sunday’s Honeymoon Breeders’ Cup H. (G2) and came with a late run from
midpack to take the nine-furlong event by a length after being steadied going
into the first turn. A nose runner-up in the Senorita
S. (G3) in her previous start, Three Degrees appears to have taken a liking to the U.S.
turf after
going without a win in the England.