Catchacougar, Rail Hugger ones to beat in 2-year-old stakes

A couple of 2-year-old stakes share the spotlight at Century Mile on Sunday. First up is the $50,000 Princess Margaret for 2-year-old fillies where Catchacougar figures to be a short price to win the 6 1/2-furlong dash, which drew seven horses. The $50,000 Birdcatcher, also at 6 1/2 furlongs, appears to be a wide-open event with Rail Hugger the possible favorite among the 10 horses entered.

This is the final weekend of racing at the inaugural Century Mile meet, which concludes Monday.

Catchacougar will be making her first start at Century Mile. Trained by Phil Hall, the Oklahoma-bred daughter of Proud Citizen won her debut going 3 1/2 furlongs at Hastings and came back to easily beat the boys in the $50,000 Spaghetti Mouse. With Enrique Gonzalez aboard, she broke sharply, and after being under pressure for a half-mile drew off to win the six-furlong sprint by 4 3/4 lengths.

Don’t be too harsh on her third-place finish in the B.C. Cup Debutante in her next start. The winner, Infinite Patience, is a monster. The 71 Beyer Infinite Patience received in the Debutante is by far the best figure earned by a 2-year-old going around two turns at Hastings this year.

Catchacougar was part of a group of horses Hall shipped to Century last week to run in the Grade 3, $250,000 Canadian Derby, $100,000 Century Casino Oaks, $75,000 Northlands Mile, and $75,000 Northlands Distaff. Three of the horses were heavily favored – Final Jeopardy in the derby, Summerland in the Oaks, and Good Luck to You in the Distaff. However, they all were pretty much eliminated with poor starts.

“It was a tough weekend,” said Hall. “Stuff happens, but it was nobody’s fault. I like the track and I’m happy to be back with Catchacougar. She’s been training well there and I expect her to run a good race.”

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She will break from post 3 with Rigo Sarmiento riding.

The main threat could come from the Tim Rycroft-trained Edge of Okotoks, who was impressive at Century winning her debut before finishing third as the heavy chalk in the $30,000 Debutante at Assiniboia Downs on Aug. 2.

In the Birdcatcher, Rail Hugger received a 68 Beyer for his 9 1/2-length romp in a maiden special weight race on Aug. 4, which is easily best in the field.

The Kentucky-bred son of Girolamo went into his blowout victory off a fourth-place finish in the $59,000 City of Leduc, which was won by Maskwecis. The addition of Lasix by trainer Elige Glurne may have had something to do with the improved performance.

Rail Hugger showed more speed in his romp, and with a bullet five furlong work in 58.20 seconds on Aug. 15, he will likely be in the mix early.

He drew post 6 with Dane Nelson retaining the mount.

Maskwecis rallied to win the City of Leduc in his second start. He is trained by Canadian Hall of Famer Red Smith.

The Alberta-bred son of Jimmy Creed should have speed to run at, particularly Shanghai Mike, who will try to make amends for his fourth-place finish as the favorite in the City of Leduc.

Shanghai Mike will break from the rail with Rico Walcott riding. He is trained by Greg Tracy.