Barretts at Fairplex: Curvy Cat class of Bangles and Beads Stakes

POMONA, Calif. – The summer campaign by Curvy Cat turned out to be too ambitious.

Curvy Cat faced the circuit’s leading female sprinters Reneesgotzip and Gypsy Robin, and her the best finish in three Del Mar starts was a distant third in an allowance.

Friday at the Los Angeles County Fair, Curvy Cat gets relief. She drops into the $50,000 Bangles and Beads Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong stakes for fillies and mares that sets up a big closing weekend for the Jerry Hollendorfer stable.

The Hollendorfer-trained Kate’s Event was scheduled to run Wednesday in the Governor’s Cup, followed by Curvy Cat on Friday. Saturday, Hollendorfer has three in the Las Madrinas Handicap – Ruby Pumps, Cathy’s Crunches, and Going for a Spin. And on closing-day Sunday, Blueskiesnrainbows starts for him in the $100,000 Ralph M. Hinds.

Curvy Cat is the 8-5 program favorite in the Bangles and Beads. Her rivals include Bob Baffert-trained pace-pressers Lady Rosamond and Gifting, horse-for-course specialists There Is No Limit and All On the Table, along with Conkate and Explosive Argument.

It is an easier group of rivals for Curvy Cat, whose 121-pound impost is nine pounds more than second choice Lady Rosamond. Curvy Cat, a stakes winner with seven wins from 19 starts, is the class of the field.

“She tries hard every time,” assistant trainer Dan Ward said. “She didn’t get over the track at Del Mar; it was hard. The track at Pomona will be kind for her.”

Owned and bred by Tommy Town Thoroughbreds, Curvy Cat won the B. Thoughtful Stakes in April at Hollywood. That sprint was against California-bred fillies and mares, as is her next objective – the Cat’s Cradle Stakes during the fall Hollywood meet.

Corey Nakatani is scheduled to ride Curvy Cat, whose chief rival is moving up in class. Lady Rosamond crushed $32,000 claiming fillies by more than five lengths last out, earning a 91 Beyer Figure that is the highest in the Bangles and Beads.

Lady Rosamond and stablemate Gifting are the field’s only front-runners. Assuming they can stay out of each other’s way, they both have an upset chance. Lady Rosamond and Gifting were assigned 112 pounds, nine less Curvy Cat.

Also in the field is There Is No Limit, whose two starts over the track in 2011 produced back-to-back claiming wins. All On the Table has raced three times at Barretts, a maiden and allowance win in 2011 and a third in the Bangles and Beads in 2012.