Angela Renee has wintered well, on target for Rachel Alexandra

Trainer Todd Pletcher has spoken encouragingly about the filly he is sending for the Rachel Alexandra Stakes, Angela Renee, whose 2-year-old campaign he described as “hit and miss for sure.”

A debut winner at Belmont, Angela Renee finished second in the Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga in her second start and in her fourth start posted a solid win in the Grade 1 Chandelier at Santa Anita. She could only finish 10th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and was a distant third four weeks later in the Grade 1 Demoiselle at Aqueduct. Angela Renee chased outside on a track surface heavily biased toward inside speed horses, but Pletcher said even taking that into account, the filly ran somewhat flat.

After given a brief freshening after shipping to Palm Beach Downs, Angela Renee has blossomed, according to her trainer.

“She’s done extremely well since then – grown up, filled out, and working better than ever,” Pletcher said. “With her pedigree, you’d expect her to be a better 3-year-old than 2-year-old.”

Angela Renee, by Bernardini and out of the Deputy Minister mare Pilfer, has a good draw, post 6, is listed at 5-1 on the track’s morning line, and will race without blinkers Saturday for the first time since the Adirondack.

There are 10 fillies in the Rachel Alexandra, including three trained by Larry Jones, who starts the Silverbulletday winner I’m a Chatterbox and the improving Lovely Maria. Shook Up is listed as the 7-2 morning-line favorite, but the betting could break any number of ways.