Caged Mistress takes on the boys

Pat Jarvis knows she may be bucking the odds a little bit, but she said she is confident going into Saturday's 58th running of the Oregon Derby on closing day at Portland Meadows. Jarvis will saddle the filly Caged Mistress against six males, including even-money favorite Seven Torrents, who has won stakes as the odds-on favorite in each of his three Portland Meadows starts.

Caged Mistress is the 7-2 second choice in the $25,000 Oregon Derby, a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds. A $16,000 claim at Golden Gate Fields on Dec. 31, 2009, she is perfect at Portland Meadows, having won a one-mile invitational handicap before capturing the 1 1/16-mile Oregon Oaks, both in March.

"She's a really nice filly, and she's really taken to this track," Jarvis said

A daughter of Ministers Wild Cat, Caged Mistress has never finished worse than fourth and has finished in the top three in seven of eight starts, including a third against colts in the Yavapai Futurity in Arizona as a 2-year-old.

While Caged Mistress comes from off the pace, Seven Torrents tends to race on or just off the pace. Trained by Jim Penney, he came to Portland Meadows off a fourth-place finish in a Golden Gate optional claimer in December and has won all three of his starts here. He easily won two statebred stakes - the OTBA Stallion Stakes and the Oregon Thoroughbred Breeders Derby - and comes off a two-length score in the Willamette River, a one-mile open stakes.

Jarvis said she understands why Seven Torrents will be the favorite and considers him the horse to beat.

"He's a nice horse," Jarvis said.

He's also consistent, having posted Beyer Speed Figures of 61 to 69 in his last six starts. As for Caged Mistress, she earned a Beyer of 61 in her handicap victory and a field-high 74 in the Oregon Oaks.

The field also includes Gentle Rain, winner of a 1 1/16-mile invitational handicap April 7 after finishing second to Seven Torrents in the March 17 Willamette River, and Promiscuous Lad, stakes-placed in his past three starts.

Vitamin C and maidens Class Mate and Brickyardtradition round out the field.