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TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS
Seven sophomore fillies will square off in Sunday's $150,000 Bonnie Miss S. (G2) over 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream Park. The Todd Pletcher-trained WAIT A WHILE (Maria's Mon) figures to go off as the prohibitive favorite on the strength of her visually impressive 14-length score in the local prep for this contest, the Davona Dale S. (G2), at this distance. We prefer to take a contrarian view of that race, inferring that her margin was inflated by the sloppy conditions, and will look for the Davona Dale runner-up, TEAMMATE (A.P. Indy), to turn the tables on a fast track. Teammate blossomed once she stretched out to a route for crafty horseman Allen Jerkens. After streaking home by 8 3/4 lengths in an off-the-turf, 1 1/16-mile maiden at Calder in December, the gray ran a tremendous race in defeat in her sophomore bow, cutting back to a one-turn mile in a Gulfstream allowance, beaten only a head despite racing three-wide throughout. Teammate earned a 97 BRIS Speed rating for that effort, which also garnered her 9-5 favoritism in the Davona Dale. She tracked the pace that day, then was shuffled back before gamely re-rallying to outduel WONDER LADY ANNE L (Real Quiet) by a head for second. She's shown her well-being since the Davona Dale with a nice seven-furlong work over the track in 1:26 4/5. Teammate should get a good stalking trip along the inside, and with first-time Lasix, she will likely improve quite a bit further. A three-quarters sister to Jaipur H. (G3) winner Ecclesiastic (Pulpit) and a half-sister to stakes winner War Front (Danzig), who's placed in two Grade 3 sprints this Gulfstream meet, the Joseph Allen homebred bids for her own stakes glory here. Cornelio Velasquez keeps faith with the gray, riding her for the fourth straight race. BETTER NOW (Thunder Gulch) has a solid portfolio herself, and if she had gotten a prep race in her this year, could have rated our top selection. The Mark Hennig trainee was a smart winner of the Tempted S. (G3) at Belmont last fall, racking up a 101 Speed figure, the highest in this field. She never showed up in her juvenile finale in the Demoiselle, trailing throughout and checking in last of five. Her time off appears to have done her a world of good, as she has been training forwardly at Gulfstream. Her last two works were a bullet half-mile and a sharp five-eighths in :59 4/5. With Javier Castellano in the irons, we suspect she'll give a very good account of herself on Sunday, but she may be even better with the benefit of a race under her belt. Because Wait a While shapes up as the type to improve at three, it could be argued that her Davona Dale romp stamps her as a top-class performer. We're unconvinced for the time being, however, largely because no one else was running near their true ability in the stretch. Wait a While herself took :14 seconds to finish that last furlong while expanding her lead from six to 14 lengths. In short, she wasn't finishing powerfully; she just kept her momentum better than her collapsing rivals. The all-conquering Pletcher/John Velazquez combination will drive her odds down further, and at a short price, we'd rather try to beat her while including her underneath in the exotics. Wonder Lady Anne L reportedly failed to handle the Davona Dale track, and since then, she's turned in a couple of nice works for Richard Dutrow. As the only other filly to have won at the 1 1/8-mile trip in the Demoiselle, she deserves consideration. Still, she'll need to step up on her Speed figures, which maxed in the low 90s last year. FRENCH PARK (Ecton Park) will represent the barn of the on-fire Helen Pitts, who's winning at a 40 percent clip in graded stakes. The winner of the Golden Rod S. (G2) and Pocahontas S. (G3) as a juvenile, the strongly made gray traveled to Louisiana Downs for her sophomore bow in the Silverbulletday S. (G3), where she took the lead briefly in the stretch before Baghdaria (Royal Academy) came back on the inside to get the nod by a head. French Park should move forward off that race, and with a series of strong works in her, she ought to be ready. Although we regard her as a very classy filly, we're lukewarm about her in this spot because her Speed figures at a mile and beyond have not exceeded 91, while in her lone sprint, she posted a 100 in her debut. SMART N PRETTY (Elusive Quality) is exiting a third in the Old Hat S. (G3), but she's never been beyond seven furlongs. Her Speed figures are very competitive, however, and she could close well enough to get into the frame and add value to the gimmicks. MIA'S REFLECTION (Halo's Image) is overmatched.
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