Ally's Little Sis not just a Polytrack prodigy

STICKNEY, Ill. - Many lesser-known trainers dream of the day they'll have a full barn of horses under their care. But the bigger Kerry Zavash's operation grows, the smaller he wants to get.

Call it negative aspiration. Zavash may wind up 2007 with more wins than in any year since 1982, when he became a licensed trainer, and he comes off a really good Arlington meet, where he won 14 races with a 15-stall stable.

"I was a little disappointed," said the laid-back Zavash. "I thought I had a shot at winning a race per stall."

As Zavash's client list has grown, his stock has improved and his number of runners has substantially increased: In 2002, 23 horses started in his name, but this year, the number already stands at 112.

"I'm going to go through the end of the year this way, because all the owners are real nice, but I'm not really crazy having this many horses," Zavash said. "I liked it when I had four or five and I did everything myself."

One of the better horses in Zavash's Hawthorne string, Ally's Little Sis, starts in the featured eighth race here Sunday, a third-level six-furlong allowance with a $40,000 claiming option. Ally's Little Sis looks on paper like a horse that improved upon moving to Arlington's Polytrack, but Zavash sees things differently.

"I don't really think it was the Polytrack," Zavash said. "Don't get me wrong, she liked it. But she's just a 3-year-old, and she was getting bigger and stronger all the time. She was a little immature last year, and she still ran decent, but she keeps getting bigger and stronger."

Ally's Little Sis won on the Arlington Poly, but she also has gone 2 for 7 on the Hawthorne dirt. But the real Hawthorne lovers in Sunday's feature are drawn on the far outside - Ripe Tomato and Sole of the City. Sole of the City has won half of her eight local starts, and captured two straight here in the spring. But Sole of the City does her best work on the pace, and in Frances Cat, she may meet a serious pace rival Sunday.

Quick fractions would set things up nicely for Ripe Tomato, who didn't run well in her turf debut last out at Arlington, but won at this class level here in the spring by six lengths.