Violet

Ten distaffers, including two main-track only contestants, are entered for

Friday night's $150,000 Violet S. (G3) at Meadowlands, and MISS MAMBO

(Kingmambo) is our top selection. Trained by Christophe Clement, the

five-year-old dark bay returned from a lengthy layoff to finish a good third in

the Indian Maid H. last out, earning a commendable 99 BRIS Late Pace rating.

Miss Mambo can handle ground with some give to it, and the stakes-winning mare

will be rallying late under Javier Castellano.

SMART N CLASSY (Smart Strike) owns two wins over the course as well as

terrific Late Pace numbers in her last two grass starts. Trained by John Tammaro,

the New Jersey-bred has held her own against graded rivals in the past and will

probably offer some value off the brief freshening. She's an intriguing upset

candidate at a price.

HUMORISTIC (Sefapiano) is winless since upsetting last year's Violet at 28-1,

but the Hamilton Smith trainee has hit the board in four of six starts this

year. The mare owns a fine mark at the distance (7-2-1-2), and she looms as a

big threat for the top three. She'll likely be forwardly placed under Cornelio

Velasquez.

ROYAL WAVE (Royal Academy) returns to stakes competition following a couple

of wins at Monmouth Park. The four-year-old miss drew off nicely both times,

registering a 105 Late Pace number most recently, and she could be a late factor

in this spot. Consider for part. BRUNILDA (Arg) (Mutakddim) may outperform our

expectations, but she does her best running on or close to the lead and could be

vulnerable breaking from an outside post here.

MORE THAN PROMISED (More Than Ready) didn't have much success against stakes

rivals earlier this year and wound up competing at Remington Park and Louisiana

Downs in her recent outings. We'll just watch to see how she fares returning to

the graded level. PROP ME UP (Reparations) has run decently since switching to

the grass four starts back, recording a win and a runner-up placing, and she's

another to consider for a small share from off the pace. ART FAN (Lear Fan) has

been squaring off against graded rivals in her recent starts without much

success and has never run over the course. We'll let her beat us.

PHYLLIS SASSY GIRL (Concerto) and NO SLEEP (Robyn Dancer) are both main-track

only contestants, and we'll give the edge to the latter if the race comes off.