CashCall Mile

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

Friday night's Cash Call Mile S. (G2) has attracted a deep, competitive and

international field of 10 fillies and mares, befitting its newly boosted $1

million purse. The grassy mile affair is now the richest race contested at

Hollywood Park, as well as the most lucrative prize for turf distaffers in North

America, other than the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1). With champion WAIT

A WHILE (Maria's Mon) expected to be scratched after spiking a temperature,

Juddmonte Farms' homebred PRICE TAG (GB) (Dansili [GB]) assumes the role of

morning-line favorite at 2-1. The winner of the Matriarch S. (G1) over this

course and distance last November, Price Tag deserves the utmost respect, but

we'd prefer to find a bit more value in a race like this, which leads us to LADY

OF VENICE (Fr) (Loup Solitaire) at 5-1.

The chestnut filly looked like a superstar in her first two U.S. starts for

Patrick Biancone last year, displaying a sparkling turn of foot to capture the

Appalachian S. and the Regret S. (G3) versus fellow sophomores. She next tackled

older distaffers in the Diana S. (G1), but she didn't enjoy the yielding ground

and checked in fifth, beaten only a length for it all. Lady of Venice was then

pitched into the Lake Placid S. (G2) on three weeks' rest, a shorter turnaround

than usual for her, and was no match for Wait a While while finishing a

respectable runner-up. Those two races must have taken a lot out of her, for she

was shelved until Keeneland's spring meet. She opened her four-year-old campaign

with a workmanlike score in an April allowance, registering a 119 BRIS Late Pace

rating, and was much more impressive when inhaling the entire field to win the

Ouija Board Distaff H. (G3) going away at Lone Star Park. The CashCall Mile has

been Lady of Venice's prime target, and she should come flying late beneath

Julien Leparoux.

Price Tag was a high-class performer in France before joining Bobby Frankel.

She passed the post first in the 2006 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French One

Thousand Guineas) (Fr-G1), only to be demoted to third for causing interference

in the one-mile classic. Making her American bow in the Matriarch, the bay

stormed home from far back to land the spoils by a half-length. After a

laughably easy allowance victory in her 2007 debut, she suffered her first U.S.

loss when vainly chasing Citronnade (Lemon Drop Kid) in the Gamely Breeders' Cup

S. (G1) on Memorial Day. That was arguably Price Tag's finest effort,

considering that she is the only filly to have come close to Citronnade all

year, and she also posted a field-topping 105 BRIS Speed rating. It will take a

very special effort to defeat Price Tag on her home court, where she will

reunite with Edgar Prado for the first time since the Matriarch.

Of the three-strong Japanese contingent, DIA DE LA NOVIA (Jpn) (Sunday

Silence) is appealing at 15-1 on the morning line. Competing honorably against

her nation's best, including males, for the past two years, the five-year-old

mare has acquitted herself well while chasing the likes of Cesario (Jpn), Daiwa

Major (Sunday Silence) and last year's CashCall winner, Dance in the Mood (Jpn).

Dia de la Novia is exiting a pair of unplaced efforts in Grade 1 events in

Japan, beaten by KOIUTA (Jpn) (Fuji Kiseki) and KISS TO HEAVEN (Jpn) (Admire

Vega), but she is in the hands of a master trainer. Katsuhiko Sumii sent out

Cesario to overwhelm the field in the 2005 American Oaks Invitational (G1), and

he pulled off an even more amazing feat by saddling the top two finishers in the

2006 Melbourne Cup (Aus-G1). In other words, Dia de la Novia is not just here

for the scenery, and a return to her best form would make her a live contender

at a price.

ALEXANDRA ROSE (SAf) (Caesour) is in a similar situation in her U.S. debut.

Her South African form warrants considerable respect, as a Group 2 winner with a

pair of excellent placings against Group 1 company at a mile. She'll have to

improve, however, upon her uninspiring fifth in Dubai's Balanchine S. last time

out in February. Reverting to a mile here, the Team Valor colorbearer is

eligible to rebound for new trainer Neil Drysdale. David Flores picks up the

mount on the dark bay, who used to race close to the pace in South Africa. At

30-1 with first-time Lasix, Alexandra Rose could be worth a flyer, or at least

included in the exotics.

The Frankel-trained PRECIOUS KITTEN (Catienus) is as honest and genuine as

they come, having won or placed in each of her last six outings. The half-sister

to 2004 champion turf horse, Kitten's Joy, is coming off a victory in the

Gallorette H. (G3), but she is a step behind the best in the division. Precious

Kitten finished a game second to both Wait a While and My Typhoon (Ire) (Giant's

Causeway) this year, and she'll be facing several top-class rivals here. Still,

given her tactical speed and her good character, she could will her way into a

minor award.

Kiss to Heaven has not visited the winner's circle since taking last year's

Oka Sho (Japanese One Thousand Guineas) (Jpn-G1), but she has run creditably in

defeat on several occasions. Fourth to Koiuta in the Victoria Mile S. (Jpn-G1),

she was most recently a decent eighth versus elite males in the Yasuda Kinen

(Jpn-G1), 3 1/2 lengths adrift of the winning Daiwa Major. Kiss to Heaven must

show more to win this, but it's a positive sign that she's lured Victor Espinoza

into the saddle. Koiuta improved markedly to upset the Victoria Mile at 59-1 in

her latest venture, turning in a career-best performance. Unlike Kiss to Heaven

and Dia de la Novia, Koiuta did not line up in  -- and was not even

nominated for -- the Yasuda Kinen, so she has not been tested by the best males.

It remains to be seen whether Koiuta's success was a fluke, or if she has

suddenly developed into a world-beater. We suspect the former is more likely and

will take a stand against her here.

DANCING EDIE (Moscow Ballet) is brave on the front end, and it was her sheer

determination that earned her a photo-finish victory in the John C. Mabee H.

(G1) last July at Del Mar. She will be making just her second start off a

seven-month layoff, with a gritty runner-up effort in the Redondo Beach S. being

her lone prep. The overachiever was a troubled fourth in the CashCall last year,

but she faces a deeper group this time around and looks up against it. ARM CANDY

(Ire) (Nashwan), who was third in the Redondo Beach, has a mountain to climb in

this spot.