Arapahoe Park: Sorta Special seeks repeat in Spicy Stakes

Sorta Special could have a distinct tactical advantage over the competition Saturday when she defends her title in the $40,000 Spicy Stakes at Arapahoe Park. She looks like the speed of the 1 1/16-mile race for Colorado-bred fillies and mares, just as she was last season, when she wired a field of 10.

Sorta Special will face just six rivals Saturday, but two of them – Sweet Dixie Van and Mile High Honey – finished close behind her in last year’s Spicy. Sorta Special will be stretching out from an allowance sprint for the Spicy, the same pattern she followed a year ago, when she broke on top from post 10 and went on to a 1 3/4-length win over Sweet Dixie Van.

The win came in a rare two-turn start for Sorta Special, a 6-year-old mare by the Atticus stallion No Storms. She won at six furlongs in her last start July 28, when she was always prominent over a laboring track at Arapahoe. Since the race, Sorta Special has worked five furlongs in a near-bullet 1:00.80.

Luis Rodriguez has the mount on Sorta Special, who will break from post 6. The mare races for Lynda Hall and is trained by W.M. Hall.