'Brownie' lines up against Baghdaria

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Pin Oak Stable and trainer Donnie Von Hemel have come to the Oaklawn Park meet armed with quality 3-year-old fillies the past few years, among them See How She Runs and Bedanken. Their latest stakes winner is Brownie Points, who will face Grade 3 winner Baghdaria on Saturday in the $75,000 Honeybee at Oaklawn Park.

The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies is the final local prep for the Grade 2, $250,000 Fantasy here April 14.

Pin Oak and Von Hemel won the Fantasy in 2002 with See How She Runs, and won the Honeybee that same year with eventual Grade 3 winner Bedanken. Von Hemel also won the Honeybee in 2004 with Yoursmineours.

, the probable favorite, comes into the Honeybee off a powerful 2 3/4-length win in the $50,000 Martha Washington here on Feb. 24. She rallied from eighth in the 12-horse field, split horses in the stretch, and accelerated to win the one-mile race under leading rider Luis Quinonez.

"She came up between those horses and when he pushed the button, there was no question," said Von Hemel.

The Martha Washington was the second career stakes victory for Brownie Points, who last year won a turf stakes at Remington Park.

"She's a pretty efficient mover, and I think she'll pretty much be able to run on dirt or turf," said Von Hemel.

Brownie Points is at her best from off the pace. She gets a little more stretch to work with Saturday since the Martha Washington ended at the sixteenth pole, as do all one-mile races at Oaklawn.

biggest career win came at 1 1/16 miles, when she won the Grade 3, $250,000 Silverbulletday during the Fair Grounds meet at Louisiana Downs on Jan. 14. She was a head winner over Grade 2 winner French Park.

The victory sent Baghdaria to post as the favorite in the Martha Washington, but she finished sixth. She struggled over the surface that day, said her trainer, Bret Calhoun, who is hoping for a faster surface on Saturday.

Baghdaria is versatile, and figures to be racing closer to the pace than Brownie Points. Cliff Berry has the mount on the Baghdaria, who races for Wayne Sanders and Larry Hirsch.

, who finished third in the Martha Washington, is another top contender in the Honeybee. Jamie Theriot has the mount for trainer Cole Norman.