Broadway Show will try to take center stage in sprint feature

Trainer Larry Jones already has two 3-year-old fillies, I’m a Chatterbox and Lovely Maria, pointed to the Rachel Alexandra Stakes on Feb. 21. Given the general paucity of standout youngsters at Fair Grounds this winter, it almost seems unfair that there’s yet another good filly, Broadway Show, who resides in the same barn.

Broadway Show won her debut Jan. 8 to the surprise of almost no one. She was an even-money favorite in a short field and delivered what was advertised. A gray daughter of Unbridled’s Song, she won by 3 1/2 lengths and figures to be at least as short a price when she runs back in the featured fourth race Saturday at Fair Grounds. The $40,000 allowance race also offers a $50,000 claiming option.

“Featured” is a relative term, of course. This 11-race Saturday program has no stakes, and a first-level allowance (race 7) is the most advanced offering on the card. That race, a turf sprint, is for older horses, and this is the time of year when 3-year-olds take center stage. And who knows – with continued progress, Broadway Show could be one to watch for important stakes races later this spring.

KEY CONTENDERS

Broadway Show (Beyer: 68)

◗ In a way, she’s a horse one might want to play against. Her Beyer Speed Figure, 68, doesn’t stick out at all in this field, if one is a speed-figure devotee.

◗ She got a perfect trip from an outside draw in her debut, easing to the lead after a so-so break without traffic concerns. And one of her main foes, Flying Jibe, had a ton of trouble in the running.

◗ On the other hand, figure-making was tricky during that week. The track had frozen and gotten very dry and tiring. No one was running fast times, and sometimes the surface might have been even more laboring than figure-makers quite realized.

◗ Broadway Show also was barely asked as she won. Jockey Kerwin Clark urged her mildly before the eighth pole, then eased up.

I’m a Looker (Last 3 Beyers: 61-57-78)

◗ She failed to stay two turns in her route debut last out and could bounce back while returning to a sprint.

◗ Trouble at the start cost her early position when she finished fourth behind the talented Promise Me Silver two races ago in the six-furlong Letellier Memorial.