On Saturday at Woodbine, some of the most promising juvenile turf fillies in North America will compete in the 50th running of the $200,000 Natalma Stakes. The Grade 2 race, a key prep for the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, will be run at one mile and has drawn a full field of twelve.
The morning line favorite in the wide open race is Isabella Sings for the powerhouse Todd Pletcher barn. Bred and owned by Siena Farms, the chestnut filly is from the first crop of Grade 1 winner Eskendereya and is a half-sister to stakes winner Alaura Michele. She won her career debut at Belmont Park on the turf in July and has clocked a recent bullet workout at Saratoga. She will have Corey Nakatani aboard and they will break from post position ten.
Second choice at odds of 7-2 is Don’t Leave Me for trainer Malcolm Pierce. The locally-based filly is a perfect two for two, with one win on synthetics and one on turf. Bred and owned by Pun Own Stud, the gray daughter of Lemon Drop Kid is out of Canadian Grade 1 winner, See How She Runs. She was last seen delivering as the favorite against allowance company on the turf at Woodbine and will have regular rider Eurico Da Silva back in the irons from post position four.
Also in the field at odds of 6-1 is Dixie Twist, an Ontario-bred daughter of Indian Charlie trained by Mark Casse. Purchased for $180,000 as a yearling, the bay filly made her career debut against stakes company in the Shady Well Stakes and finished second. She wheeled back in the Ontario Debutante Stakes and broke her maiden next out. She will be trying turf for the first time as well as stretching out to a mile under jockey Gary Boulanger.
The field is set for the $1 million Haskell, where Nyquist will be trying to re-stake his claim as the top three-year-old in the country.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $300,000 United Nations Stakes. Scheduled to be run at a mile and three-eighths on the turf, the Grade 1 event has drawn a field of ten colts and geldings.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $150,000 Pegasus Stakes, a key prep race for the Haskell Invitational (G1). The Grade 3 event will be contested at a mile and a sixteenth and has drawn a field of seven three-year-olds.
With five grade 1 races and a grade 2, the undercard for the June 11 Belmont stakes could be the best single day of racing on the calendar outside of the Breeders’ Cup.
Haskell Invitational Picks for Monmouth Sunday
29 July 2016The field is set for the $1 million Haskell, where Nyquist will be trying to re-stake his claim as the top three-year-old in the country....
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