Bella Figura back from layoff in Thursday sprint feature
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Anything can and will happen during the waning days of the marathon Woodbine meet, which concludes Nov. 29.
Numerous horses will compete on short rest, sometimes successfully. Longtime maidens and trainers who rarely win will find the mark. Some inconceivable longshots will make their presence felt, helping to blow up the exotics.
Hey Big Man, a router in solid form, is cutting back to a sprint while running back in a week in Thursday’s fourth race, an $8,000 maiden claimer. His lone try going short in July was poor, but in a race lacking depth, he should be a major player. Alan Garcia will ride him for trainer Danny Vella, and they combined to win last Saturday’s South Ocean Stakes with Trini Brewnette.
Thursday’s nominal feature, a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight dash for 2-year-old fillies that goes as race 3, lured a field of seven, including the comebacker Bella Figura.
Bella Figura started twice in August. After missing the break in her five-furlong debut, she wound up fourth in a rapid event won by the promising She’ll Do It. She also started slowly before closing for fourth in a subsequent six-furlong maiden special weight race that contained a next-out winner and a runner-up who came back to be second at Keeneland.
MAIDEN SPECIAL WEIGHT (RACE 3)
KEY CONTENDERS
Bella Figura (Beyers: 61-64)
◗ Trainer Lorne Richards has scored at a healthy 27 percent clip at the meet.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Richards possesses a 15 percent strike rate with 61- to 180-day layoff runners during the past five years, with a return on investment of $1.30.
Scarlett O’Mara (First-time starter)
◗ She’s worked quickly on occasion for leading trainer Mark Casse. Her sire, Eskendereya, has produced 13 percent 2-year-old debut winners, and her dam produced a stakes-placed juvenile. Casse’s go-to rider, Patrick Husbands, has the call.
State Jewel (First-time starter)
◗ Another Casse-trained first-timer, she has worked fast, including five furlongs in a bullet 1:01.60 on Oct. 26 at Woodbine. The daughter of speed sire More Than Ready is a half-sister to the rapid sprinter Amethea and 2-year-old debut winner Adrosa Sky.
Solon’s Warning (Beyer: 54)
◗ She raced at the rear of an 11-horse field along the rail on the turn before closing for fifth and then galloping out strongly in a five-furlong maiden special weight race Nov. 5 at Woodbine.
◗ Trainer David Bell possesses excellent numbers with maiden second-time starters.
Storm Coming (First-time starter)
◗ The daughter of the popular Hard Spun, a low-percentage debut sire, has posted above-average works for Vella, who’s scored with several debuting juveniles at the meet.