Woodbine: Just Got In bids to stay perfect in Ontario Debutante

Michael Burns

Just Got In will seek her third straight victory in Saturday's Ontario Debutante at Woodbine.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The speedy Just Got In will try to extend her unbeaten streak to three races Saturday at Woodbine in the $150,000 Ontario Debutante, a six-furlong stakes for 2-year-old fillies.

Just Got In made quite a splash when she debuted in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special May 26. She went straight to the front and never looked back, winning by 7 1/2 lengths in 51.81 seconds, a time that translated into a solid 75 Beyer Speed Figure.

Just Got In wasn’t nearly as sharp most recently in the five-furlong My Dear Stakes, but she managed to hold on for a neck score after dueling through rapid fractions. For covering the distance in 59.11, she earned just a 57 Beyer.

“Her last race, I had a couple of small issues that we were dealing with,” trainer Ricky Griffith said. “It was actually a bigger effort than it looks. She had heat stroke that day. It knocked her out a little bit.”

Griffith said Just Got In has trained encouragingly since the June 24 My Dear.

“She had a break and has come back with a couple of decent works,” Griffith said. “I worked her over the [dirt] training track. I wanted to see if we had more options than just Polytrack, and she worked very, very well. She’s doing okay.”

Griffith has lots of admiration for Just Got In, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Songandaprayer.

“She was a classy filly to be around, from Day 1,” Griffith said. “She had a pretty level head for a baby and was very professional about everything that we did with her.”

Griffith also entered the improving maiden Tracey’s Smile, who was a distant fourth behind Just Got In first time out. She subsequently finished second in a $50,000 maiden claimer and is adding blinkers for the Ontario Debutante.

Griffith said Tracey’s Smile figures to find her calling going long.

“I don’t think she’s a sprinter-type at all,” Griffith said. “The further they stretch them out, the better it will be for her. She came back with a big work, five-eighths in 59.20. We changed some stuff around and added blinkers to her equipment.”

Lady Bear drew post 1 in the six-horse field. She crushed $32,000 maidens first time out July 21, winning by nearly 10 lengths in 58.63, a time that earned her a 72 Beyer.

Quincy Welch inherits the mount on the Reade Baker-trained Lady Bear from Emma Wilson, who’s in England for a jockey challenge Saturday.

Bwana Go Fast and Seaneen Girl also are each exiting a maiden-claiming victory. First-timer Sweet Redemption completes the field.