Anne's Purse in easier spot

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Anne's Purse, who bypassed the June 8 Woodbine Oaks in favor of calmer waters, will be favored in Thursday's Woodbine headliner, a six-furlong allowance for Ontario-sired fillies and mares.

Anne's Purse, trained by Earl Barnett, is unbeaten in two starts. She served notice that she had ample potential when she won her six-furlong debut against Ontario-sired opposition with authority April 30, while earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 80.

Anne's Purse jumped right into stakes company May 24 in the restricted Lady Angela, and was an easy winner under Eurico Rosa da Silva. She dueled on the front end in that seven-furlong sprint, and then pulled away in the final furlong to prevail by 4 3/4 lengths.

"I was very pleased with the way she ran," said Da Silva. "She's got a nice stride, and she tries hard."

Barnett said the nine-furlong Oaks was too much too soon for Anne's Purse.

"I was didn't run her in the Oaks, because of the closeness to her previous race," said Barnett. "She's not a very big filly, but she's a very gutsy filly. There was lots of speed in the race, and I wasn't about to knock her out in there."

Jovial Jill could be the main threat. She won her opener last Dec. 6 in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special in which Anne's Purse was a vet scratch.

Jovial Jill finished a good third when she came off the sidelines April 11, but she bounced a month later in another Ontario-sired allowance. With the addition of Lasix in her last race, she closed strongly on the outside to win going away.

Emma Wilson will ride Jovial Jill for trainer Ian Black, the same combination that took the 2007 Queen's Plate with Mike Fox.

Miss Juicey and Miss Terra are both exiting front-running allowance victories, in which they registered Beyer Figures in the mid-70s.

Miss Juicey was fourth in a fast renewal of the restricted Victorian Queen Stakes in October. She has worked quickly leading up to this engagement, but has drawn the undesirable 1 hole.

Miss Terra wired $12,500 maidens in her season opener. She was just 7-1 when she jumped up to the Ontario-sired allowance classification most recently, and won for fun over a weak field.

Woofys Power got an 84 Beyer for her wake-up win May 17. She will be hard-pressed to duplicate it in this acid test.