Cassydora comes off the bench

MIAMI - Class or current form? That will be the decision bettors will have to make when assessing the chances of Cassydora against her nine rivals in Saturday's $26,500 allowance feature at Calder.

Cassydora has not started since she finished 11th in Woodbine's Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes over a yielding course, her North American debut, in October of 2005. Before that outing she had won a listed stakes and was Group 1 stakes-placed in her native England. A daughter of Darshaan, she will make her U.S. bow under second-level optional claiming and allowance conditions on Saturday.

Cassydora ran in the E.P. Taylor for trainer Christophe Clement but has since been transferred into the barn of Todd Pletcher, although she will officially race in the name of Pletcher's assistant, Anthony Sciametta Jr., in her comeback. Pletcher transferred all his horses stabled in south Florida to Sciametta earlier this week in anticipation of beginning a 45-day suspension in the near future.

Cassydora has been working steadily at the Palm Meadows training center since her arrival in the area in mid-November, with three of her works coming on the turf.

Should Cassydora need a race off the bench, Oberon's Girl and Good Intentions figure to vie for the major prize. Both come into the race off a solid effort.

Oberon's Girl is down from New York, where she ran third as the favorite under second-level allowance conditions on Oct. 9. Cornelio Velasquez, who just returned from serving a 15-day suspension of his own, will again have the assignment for trainer Angel Penna Jr. Velasquez guided Oberon's Girl to an entry-level allowance win at Belmont in May.

Good Intentions is coming off the best two races of her career, a second in the Copano Stakes and a runner-up finish when she moved back to the grass and returned to allowance company on Nov. 18. Never worse than second in three lifetime starts on grass, Good Intentions was awarded a victory via the disqualification of Mia's Reflection in the John Franks Juvenile Fillies Turf here at 2.

* The La Prevoyante and W.L. McKnight handicaps, automatically downgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 3 status after being taken off the grass on Saturday, had their original gradings restored after a review by the Graded Stakes Committee earlier this week.