Bacchanalia tries to rediscover best form in Friday allowance

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Bacchanalia, a lightly raced turf specialist from the barn of trainer Chad Brown, will likely be favored when she makes just her second start since late March in Friday’s $48,000 allowance feature for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

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Bacchanalia looked like another up-and-coming stakes horse for the powerful Brown stable when she posted a second straight victory by capturing an entry-level allowance race going 1 3/16 miles here last January. But she has started just twice since that race, finishing second behind the stakes-placed Silver Kitten on March 27 and a tiring sixth on Oct. 9 at Belmont Park. Both those races were decided under second-level allowance conditions similar to Friday’s headliner.

Irad Ortiz Jr., who was aboard the daughter of Union Rags for both her wins, will have the mount again Friday.

Bacchanalia will face a field that includes key contenders Ask Bailey, who returns to the allowance ranks off a sixth-place finish in the Tropical Park Oaks, and Ocean of Love, who figures to be the controlling speed.