Bad Ju Ju looks a cut above her Thursday rivals
ARCADIA, Calif. – In her first start, which came last November at Del Mar, Bad Ju Ju broke slowly, rushed up, then faded to fifth. Four weeks later at Los Alamitos, in her second start, she broke sharply and kept on motoring, crushing maidens by more than nine lengths.
The reason for the difference in those performances?
“I think it was just experience,” Mike Machowsky, the trainer and co-owner of Bad Ju Ju, said Monday. “She had the one hole for that first race, broke slowly, grabbed the bit, and rushed up. She’s always trained like a filly with a lot of quality.”
That talent was on full display in her last start. On Thursday at Santa Anita, Machowsky hopes the good karma continues with Bad Ju Ju as she steps up to run in a first-level optional-claiming race for statebred 3-year-old fillies.
“She’s been training really well,” Machowsky said. “She bounced out of that race well, put on a little weight.”
Thursday’s race, at six furlongs, is the first of the day. It is one of two sprints for 3-year-old fillies on the card. The other is race 3, an open allowance that features Tall and Sweet, who scored a visually impressive debut win at Los Alamitos that earned a Beyer Speed Figure of just 62.
Machowsky, who breeds and races horses as Lo Hi Racing, bred and owns Bad Ju Ju along with Dick Barton.
There are only five horses in race 1, including Bullwinkle Babe, a Barton-owned, Machowsky-trained maiden whose entry helped make the race fill.
“We’re going to run her, too,” Machowsky said. “There wasn’t anything else in the condition book for her. I talked it over with Dick and he was fine with it, since there wasn’t anything else for her right now.”
KEY CONTENDERS
Bad Ju Ju (Beyers: 81-42)
◗ Her winning figure from her maiden win last time out towers over this field. Her other four rivals have made a combined 25 starts, and the best fig from that group is a 70.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Bad Ju Ju. Horses she beat in her maiden win on Dec. 5 have gone 6-0-1-0 in their next start, with a top Beyer Speed Figure of 52. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Easter Fever (Last 3 Beyers: 70-40-61)
◗ She rallied to beat $50,000 claimers last time out in a race that produced a red-hot pace, fell apart late, and flattered her late run. Still, she earned the best figure of her career, and she now owns a win and a second in three starts on this surface.
Exfanofsixties (Beyer: 55)
◗ She excelled over a wet-fast track in her lone start, Jan. 11, setting fast fractions and holding on to win.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Exfanofsixties. Trainer A.C. Avila is 19-7-4-2 with a $4.65 ROI over the past five years in the start following a maiden win (3-2-0-0 when it is the second career start). Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Racing for Chasen (Last 3 Beyers: 58-55-47)
◗ Though she’s never run faster than a 58 Beyer in 11 lifetime starts, she has improved since getting blinkers two starts ago, and comes off a victory against cheaper here Jan. 18.
◗ She is the only horse in this optional claimer who is being risked for the $50,000 claiming price.