Spinaway J

AMERICAN

GRADED STAKES PREVIEWS

Nine talented juvenile fillies will travel seven furlongs in the $300,000

Spinaway S. (G1) at Saratoga on Saturday, led by superb Schuylerville S. (G3)

romper HOT DIXIE CHICK (Dixie Union). The Steve Asmussen filly ran second in her

debut over a sloppy oval at Churchill Downs and has really turned it on since,

earning BRIS Speed numbers of 110 and 104 in her last two starts. The fleet dark

bay has excellent speed and should be rolling late from the rail under Robby

Albarado, but we'll try for an upset.

WORSTCASESCENARIO (Forbidden Apple) was a dominant, 4 1/4-length heroine of

the Adirondack S. (G2) and rates the top pick in here for Richard Violette. The

modestly-bred filly crushed a Belmont maiden group in a race that was taken off

the sod and proved that it was no fluke last out, when she rolled home at big

odds under Alan Garcia. The bay has done nothing wrong to date, has excellent

tactical speed and a strong closing kick, as well.

Hot Dixie Chick is sure to be bet heavily in here and could surely run this

field off their feet with any improvement, but she'll be stretching out in

ground and could have her hand forced early from the rail, which can always be a

tricky place to start from out of the chute.

BEAUTICIAN (Dehere) was easily second best in the Schuylerville most recently

for Ken McPeek and the filly has plenty of room for improvement in her third

career try. The talented gray has done nothing wrong to date, and if the top two

falter a little bit, the Kentucky-bred could be one to capitalize from off the

pace beneath Kent Desormeaux.

SASSY IMAGE (Broken Vow) took a lot of money in the Adirondack, and

deservedly so, as the chestnut rallied well to be a clear second. The

Kentucky-bred chestnut has improved nicely since finishing third in her debut

and she could get a nice pace at which to run at, so we'll include the lass in

our exotics for a trainer (Dale Romans) who has had a solid Saratoga meet.

SNAP HAPPY (Lion Heart) rallied from well back to top a decent maiden group

at first asking for trainer Dallas Stewart and deserves a long look in this one.

The Kentucky-bred bay hails from a barn that doesn't always fire with juveniles

at first asking but get better with a start under their belts, and if that is

the case, this one should be rolling late for a possible piece under Calvin

Borel. OPUS A (Read the Footnotes) was backed in her debut and delivered for

Violette, rallying from well to register a solid win over a more experienced

group. The Empire State-bred has reportedly been impressive in her morning

drills since and we love the ability of Violette to get his youngsters cranked

up for these types of events. Consider her for the gimmicks.

BICKERSONS (Silver Deputy) flashed brilliant speed in dominating a maiden

field last out at Monmouth Park for Kelly Breen. The intriguing longshot is bred

to be a speed merchant and has been working well since her win, so we wouldn't

be surprised to see the Ontario-bred taking the early lead against this cast.

After that, though, we're not sure. John Velazquez will ride. New York-bred

maiden winner SKY FEVER (Roaring Fever) showed excellent improvement from start

one to two for Juan Ortiz, but we would be surprised if the filly has anything

left late against this strong field. Adirondack third MAGIC APPEAL (Successful

Appeal) needs to get faster in a hurry for conditioner Stanley Hough in order to

challenge the top ones in this affair.