Can I Call You Dad could be a good one

ALBANY, Calif. - Saturday's $75,000-added Miss America Handicap at Bay Meadows could prove a good measuring stick for locally based fillies and mares.

The 1 1/16-mile turf race has 10 probables and several others listed as possible. At least seven are based locally, headed by A B Noodle, the possible highweight at 117 pounds, and Hooked on Niners.

Last year, jockey Chad Schvaneveldt said he felt confident going into this race. He was riding local favorite Lindsay Jean, who went on to win the race.

He will ride Can I Call You Dad this year and thinks he has a legitimate chance to repeat.

Schvaneveldt said Can I Call You Dad, a 4-year-old filly, gives him a feeling similar to the one he felt with Lindsay Jean.

"Lindsay Jean, you knew she'd try every time. She'd lay her body down," he said. "When you throw your leg over some of them, you can tell their class. They're all business."

Schvaneveldt said he has felt that class with Can I Call You Dad.

"She's very professional," he said. "I only rode her once, but she impressed me. She relaxed well, and when I pushed the button, there was a lot more there."

Aggie Anderson, Brent Sumja's assistant, said she and Sumja think Can I Call You Dad could "turn out to be one of the best fillies we've had."

Given some time off last summer because of some nagging problems, Can I Call You Dad won her comeback in a $50,000 optional claimer on the dirt at Golden Gate Fields on Feb. 29.

"She went out a little girl and came back a full woman," Anderson said. "I had one concern with all the time off that she might be a bit rank in her last race. When I saw her settle the way she did I knew she'd do great. She proved that day she's not just a turf filly, although I think she's better on grass. That race did her a world of good."

Anderson said Can I Call You Dad has trained well since her comeback race, including a bullet half-mile in 46.60 seconds on March 17.

"Our exercise rider, Mario Resendiz, doesn't ride in 46," Anderson said. "What she did was under wraps. She's at the top of her game."

Vamos Nina tops feature

Vamos Nina brings in the best Beyers among 10 older fillies and mares who will meet in a first-level 1 1/16-mile allowance race Friday, but she has never won on the main track.

Ran for the Dough comes north off a wire-to-wire victory in a $40,000 optional claimer at Santa Anita and has drilled fast since her last race.

Guidebook and Heavenly Meeting are both coming off troubled trips.