Evening Jewel returns to turf in Valentine Dancer

Millionaire EVENING JEWEL (Northern Afleet) might have been aiming

for $30,000 more in winning purse money when scratched from Monday's

Buena Vista H. (G2), but the 2010 California-bred Horse of the Year

appears to have landed in an appealing enough spot. The Jim

Cassidy-trained bay figures to be a solid favorite when matched against

10 state-breds in Saturday's $100,000

Valentine Dancer H. going one mile over Santa Anita's turf.

"We had a lot going against us," Cassidy said in explaining the Buena

Vista scratch.

He cited high weight, the disadvantageous outside No. 11 post going

the mile distance, the rails set at 15 feet and soft turf resulting from

recent rain. Perhaps not so apparent prior to the Buena Vista was the

smasher that the returning Cozi Rosie (Pleasantly Perfect) would run in

winning by 1 1/4 lengths.

"There was certainly a sense of relief when I saw Evening Jewel

scratch out of the race," said Mike Smith, who rode Cozi Rosie to

victory in the Buena Vista. "She's very talented and has tactical speed.

(Evening Jewel) would have been making the first run, and I would have

had to try and run her down."

Evening Jewel has been assigned to carry 125 pounds, but so has Unzip Me, a

crack sprinter who will be making her first start at a distance beyond 6 1/2

furlongs.

The five-year-old has been on a roll of late, reaching the wire first in

eight of her last 10 starts, all on the turf ranging in distances from five to 6

1/2 furlongs. She ran against the boys two back in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint

(G2), and rallied to be third on the wire.

Unzip Me has a total of four Grade 3 wins among her 17 victories, including

the January 2 Monrovia S. (G3) over Evening Jewel, but faces a challenge when

trying two turns for the first time. Rafael Bejarano has the mount atop the

chestnut mare trained by Marty Jones.

ULTRA BLEND (Richly Blended) is seldom far away at the wire and has been

turning in some of her best performances lately. After winning Oak Tree's

California Cup Matron at Hollywood Park in October, she returned to take the

Cat's Cradle H. by 3 1/4 lengths against state-breds.