Eighteen 3-year-old fillies will face the starter in The Amber Waves Of Grain, an Equinics event that will be the third race of the day at the beautiful Pastures Of Green racetrack in Vermont. Of course, this particular race has the added stigma of being a possible springboard to Oaks glory for these young distaff runners.
East-West Connection Post #1 20/1
UNATTACHED N has trainer lordpye6 scratching his head. The daughter of Singpiel is a grand-looking filly and runs a hole in the wind in the mornings, but just can't seem to get it together in races. Still, �Pye Aims High� is a well-known saying around the Sim, and he takes another try at the bigtime here.
Sim Hispano Post #2 26/1
HAACK'S GIRLFRIEND started her career with a nice win on the turf, but ran only passably in her next two tries. Trainer juliotto decided to try his daughter of relatively obscure sire Student Council on the dirt last time out, and hit the jackpot as the filly blew past several others with a dramatic rush in the stretch to win a 7f allowance in style. Only a little improvement on the stretchout and class rise, and this filly could have a shot.
Midas Residency Post #3 19/1
HAVERINGTON has been on the shelf since her one try around 2 turns in November. That effort was a strong one, a fast-closing 2nd with an 89 speed. If bluetaffy's daughter of Heatseeker is fully sharp after the long rest, she could be dangerous today.
Forty Shades Of Green (Ireland) Post #4 17/1
KEPLER LOLOROLO was really rolling along, taking a nice 3-race win streak into the G3 Santa Jezebel, but something definitely went wrong in that race. Maybe it was the class rise, maybe it was the long trip from France to California, maybe it was the short 3-week break between races, or any combo of the above. In any case, trainer marianus knows what he's doing and thinks she deserves another shot at the bigtime. A form turnaround by the Red Ransom daughter would be no surprise.
Ohio Residency Post #5 9/1
MARTY AND ROME's trainer is nuts to try this... Wait... that's ME! In that case, this drbydude-trained daughter of Smarty Jones is absolutely unbea... er, has a good shot with her best effort in here, with a strong 94 speed rating at today's distance last time out in a small stakes. Class is a question, but it's apparent plenty of talent is there, and she's shown that 2 turns shouldn't be an issue.
Minnesota Downs Post #6 12/1
ACID RAIN COT has the highest speed figure in this field, earned while running 2nd in a restricted stakes at 8.5 f on the slop last time out. This is the daughter of Stormy Atlantic's best speed by far, so trainer cothill has been seen rain-dancing like Bojangles around the shedrows all week. �Doin' The New Low-Down� like crazy didn't work... Wet weather never materialized, and the Vermont surface is dry and fast.
GR Simsters Post #7 15/1
HI HO MAMBO looks at first like she's been thrown to the wolves here by trainer padrebri4. However, a closer look shows that while this is a huge step up the class ladder for the Silver Charm filly, she's been strong every time out vs. �better-than-looks� competition. Last time out was her first try around 2 turns, and she closed with a great rush to the place spot. If that rush has another furlong in it, watch out!
Comedy Central Post #8 9/1
WINE ME DINE ME has only one win to her credit in her four starts, but she has hit the board every time out, the last three in stakes races with good speed numbers. Trainer cmd has the utmost confidence that his filly will be the first stakes winner for sophomore sire Fan The Flames. �I told the jock to �save� her last time if she wasn't in a winning position, because the Equinics is the one I want to win.� Also, note that the winner of that race is undefeated on dirt and could be �any kind of good�.
Universal Racing Club Post #9 6/1
HARD INDIAN has certainly done little wrong for taylormade; she's never been worse than 2nd, and most of her losses have been at the hand (hooves?) of really good ones. Winner of a million Sim bucks, a divisional Eclipse, and a Grade 1 already, this filly has the potential to be a future Sim superstar; might be already. After her close loss in the BB Juvy Filly, the striking chestnut daughter of Hard Spun took a nice 10-week break to recuperate from a tough 2yo campaign. In her return, a mile allowance at Florida, she lost to a very highly-regarded filly (Sarah's Story) who ran a close-up 3rd in a tough Grade 3 just this past week.
North West Racing Circuit Post #10 9/1
SMARTY JOAN is one of the most-accomplished runners in here, with a G3 win in California last out. The daughter of Smarty Jones (Gee... No kidding?) has been expertly trained by crandyiiii for this in hopes that this will springboard a championship season. She's on her way, with two wins and two places in her four career 2-turn tries.
Hong Kong Racing Club Post #11 28/1
NOSE BOB returns to the main track where she's shown that she can handle 2 turns comfortably. Says trainer newracing: �I don't know what I was thinking, trying this dirt-bred filly on the sod. I doubt I'll be putting her back on that stuff anytime soon...�. This daughter of Corinthian could contend with her best effort today.
Del Penn National Post #12 15/1
SHORTY LONG was looking like a potential superstar for trainer onthemusol, but the daughter of Cahill Road seems to have lost her way since her 8th-place run in the BB Juvy Filly. Her two starts since have shown that it's possible a nice rest might be in order. The Equinics Torch waits for nobody, however, so Shorty is running today.
Queensland Post #13 15/1
MISS MYA has demonstrated a ton of speed in her short career, leading throughout in her three tries, and only getting caught once. While distance and class will be huge tests today, it's worth noting that the one filly to finish ahead of mya10's daughter of Exchange Rate has since won a small stakes race in impressive fashion.
Benelux Post #14 15/1
WOETTE'S OCTOPUSSY started her career on the turf, where she did well, placing twice in graded-stakes company. Then, she was moved to the dirt by trainer goldeneye, apparently an astute move. The daughter of A. P. Indy is 2-for-2 in 8f dirt allowances and takes another shot at graded-stakes glory here.
Blazing Saddles Post #15 11/1
A BRUSH WITH A SKUNK is certainly not something you'd hope for, unless it's a filly that can run like this gal can. Trainer skunktime is happy with her career so far, and thinks he could very well be much happier after this race is run, at least if she returns to the impressive form she demonstrated while winning a California allowance race a couple starts ago. She didn't regress very much against her first graded company in her last, and only a little improvement could see her in the picture here.
Alpine Turf Club Post #16 26/1
FORTUNE'S FOREST FOX has only one win in 5 starts, and the speed figures are well below par for this class. However, trainer stormcat55 wins at an incredible 23% clip, and must have a good idea that his Forestry filly is sitting on a big one.
EAAA Racing Post #17 18/1
AEGEAN SEA has been impressive in her runs around 2 turns, with a pair of allowance wins followed by a fast-closing 4th to SMARTY JOAN in the G3 Santa Jezebel at 8.5 furlongs. Trainer silks2912 thinks his Tale Of The Cat filly can turn the tables this time out. Maybe the extra half-furlong will help here.
Vermont's Pastures Of Green Post #18 9/1
MOLDAVIA is royally-bred, being a daughter of Ghostzapper out of Dangerous Reward, a multi-G1 winner on the Sim track who has produced extremely well in the breeding shed. Could this filly be as good as her half-sister, current BB Turf champ and Eclipse winner Title Defense? So far in her fledgling career, the suburb-looking brown filly has been impressive, though there's a long ways to go before she can really answer that question. Trainer superstar seems unconcerned about the short 3-week gap since her last, an easy win in the Expenditure Stakes. �She wasn't even breathing hard after that one. She'll be fine.�
Yoss' Benelux tipsheet likes:
9 � 5 � 6 � 10
My picks:
5 MARTY AND ROME You didn't think I'd pick against my own horse, didja??
9 HARD INDIAN Top 2yo Turf Filly in 2009, should be very tough
10 SMARTY JOAN Well-established at 2-turning
18 MOLDAVIA Huge potential, 2 9-furlong wins already
Much luck at the races... Watch ALL the Equinics at Vermont and BC!
