Ceci Valentina poised for good effort in My Dear Girl

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – On paper, Ceci Valentina’s 1 1/2-length victory at odds of 12-1 in the seven-furlong Susan’s Girl Stakes was nothing much to write home about.

Ceci Valentina rallied from off a hotly contested pace in the Aug. 31 Susan’s Girl, the middle leg of the filly division of the Florida Sire Stakes series, to defeat a suspect field while earning a mere 48 Beyer Speed Figure. In reality, Ceci Valentina’s performance was much more impressive than that considering she got squeezed at the start, had to check briefly after one of her rivals lost her rider a quarter-mile into the race, took up sharply again when squeezed near the rail midway on the turn, and angled well wide to commence her winning bid entering the stretch.

Trainer Angel Rodriguez is hopeful things will go a lot smoother for Ceci Valentina when she stretches out to 1 1/16 miles here on Saturday for the $400,000 My Dear Girl Stakes. Not surprisingly, the wide-open final leg of the series drew a full field of 12 juvenile fillies, including four of the first five finishers from the Susan’s Girl.

Ceci Valentina earned a much better Beyer number, a 65, winning her maiden four weeks prior to the Susan’s Girl by defeating open company going 5 1/2 furlongs over a good track. Rodriguez firmly believes stretching out will be to his filly’s advantage on Saturday.

“I think she’s going to love the extra distance,” said Rodriguez. “Last time she got in a lot of trouble and was still able to recover. She finished strong, it wasn’t like she was pleading for the wire. She kept going. And I think she’s training even better going into this race. She’s ready. I’m very confident.”

Bahamian Girl, Awesome Indra, and Tara, second, third, and fifth in the Susan’s Girl, are back again, as is Two Sixty, who lost her rider, Edgard Zayas, during the running of the race.

Those looking for a new face in the mix will likely focus in on the trio of Cajun Delight, Gran Reserva, and Let’s Be Honest.

Cajun Delight registered an impressive 5 1/2-length victory when launching her career earlier this month against open maiden special weight competition. Her trainer, Bob Hess Jr., admitted the decision to run her in the My Dear Girl was a last minute one.

“She has a ton of ability and ultimately will probably be a one-turn horse, but historically you can get away first time long with a sprinter,” said Hess. “We’re taking a shot. We know we’re asking a lot of her, but it’s a ton of money and we’ve conceded we’re probably going to give her a lot of time off afterward.”

Gran Reserva is coming off a half-length maiden victory under a $35,000 claiming tag on Sept. 12 in just her second start, while Let’s Be Honest takes on restricted company for the first time in four starts after proving competitive against open company under high-level optional-claiming conditions in her last start.

Wildcat Heir features rematch

The $150,000 Wildcat Heir for Florida-bred 3-year-olds and up going one mile highlights an undercard that includes five $75,000 stakes.

The Wildcat Heir brings back the first- and second-place finishers from the 2018 In Reality, Well Defined and Garter and Tie, while also luring New York-based invader Extrordinary Jerry for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Well Defined, who ended his 2-year-old season finishing 12th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, has started just four times in 2019. He bounced back from a dull effort in the Mucho Macho Man to register an easy wire-to-wire victory in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs, but then finished eighth in the Tampa Bay Derby and fifth as the even-money favorite in the Carry Back here on June 29.

Garter and Tie returns from Saratoga where he was overmatched in the Grade 2 Amsterdam. He, too, has just a single victory at 3, a 10 1/2-length triumph in the six-furlong Ocala Stakes on June 1. Garter and Tie won the one-mile Smooth Air in his 2-year-old finale.

Extrordinary Jerry defeated first-level statebred allowance company here in May and exits the signature performance of his career, a seven-length open allowance win going nine furlongs at Saratoga on Aug. 25.

Rounding out the field are Mr. Jordan, third in the 2018 Wildcat Heir but winless in six tries this year; Carry Back winner Take Command; multiple statebred stakes-winning filly Wildwood’s Beauty; Soldollie; and Ice Tea.

◗ The most competitive stakes of the day could be the $75,000 Mr. Steele, which lured a field of 11 going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. The field is led by Driven by Thunder, Durocher, Swagger Jagger, Ambassador Jim, and Grand Journey.