Bootleggers Wife faces just three in Bird of Pay
Bootleggers Wife will be a short price in the $50,000 Bird of Pay Stakes at Northlands Park on Friday night. Not only is Bootleggers Wife a standout in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 2-year-old fillies, but there are only four horses in the field.
Trained by Tim Rycroft, Bootleggers Wife is undefeated in two starts, and in both races, she overwhelmed her opponents. She broke on top and drew off to win by six lengths when she debuted going 3 1/2 furlongs in a maiden special weight race July 11. The Florida-bred Bootleggers Wife showed that she could carry her substantial speed around two turns when she romped in the $55,000 Princess Margaret in her second start. With Shannon Beauregard aboard, she was under pressure from Raise a Dancer for a half-mile before easily winning the six-furlong sprint by 11 3/4 lengths.
Bootleggers Wife has the right to be a good one. Her sire, Leroidesanimaux, won multiple Grade 1 races and earned more than $1.65 million. She is the first foal out of La Chica Sensual, a two-time stakes winner who earned $379,595.
She drew the rail, where Beauregard figures to make good use of her excellent speed.
If there is going to be an upset, it likely will come from Raise a Dancer. The Greg Tracy-trained Raise a Dancer couldn’t keep up with Bootleggers Wife in the Princess Margaret, but she improved dramatically when she came back to win a $20,000 claiming race for non-winners-of-two by 9 1/4 lengths last Saturday.
“We changed the bit on her, and it really helped turn her around,” said Tracy. “I don’t like bringing her back this quickly, but I could see it was going to be a short field, and her last race didn’t take anything out of her.”
Bird of Pay, Race 1
KEY CONTENDERS
Bootleggers Wife (Last 2 Beyers: 55-63)
◗ It is hard to go past the speedy filly, who completely dominated both of her races. She has had a couple of solid works recently and should be tough to get past if she breaks alertly.
Raise a Dancer (Last 3 Beyers: 42-19-56)
◗ She owns the best Beyer Speed Figure in the field and could be dangerous if she can get the jump on Bootleggers Wife early.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Over the past five years at Northlands, Tracy has a 32 percent strike rate with 2-year-olds running in stakes races.