Dancing Allstar taking on boys

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The $125,000 Colin Stakes isn't just for the boys. Several gifted 2-year-old fillies have captured the six-furlong event, most notably champions La Prevoyante, Wavering Girl, and Buckys Solution.

Dancing Allstar will try to add her name to that list Saturday at Woodbine in the 52nd running of the Colin, as she looks to extend her unbeaten record to three races.

Trained by Terry Jordan, Dancing Allstar won her maiden by two lengths in a 3 1/2-furlong dash May 6 at Hastings. Dancing Allstar subsequently joined Jordan's Woodbine operation, and Jordan put her on Lasix for the July 2 My Dear Stakes. After breaking awkwardly in that five-furlong sprint, she rushed up to set the pace, and then coasted home on top by 6o3/4 lengths over the favored Kentucky invader Sky Mom. Her time of 57.40 seconds translated into a big Beyer Speed Figure of 88.

Jordan said Dancing Allstar's My Dear romp didn't shock him.

"I wasn't surprised that she won," Jordan said. "We didn't know what the competition would be like, and we were concerned about the horse that shipped in, but she won easily, even though she didn't break that good."

Jordan said Dancing Allstar has always shown promise.

"Right from the start she's done everything the right way and acted like a good horse," Jordan said. "She's a B.C.-bred with no pedigree, but I guess she doesn't know who her mom and dad are."

Dancing Allstar breezed a half-mile in a bullet 48 seconds on the Polytrack July 13.

"We let her go a little bit," said Jordan. "She did that quite easily, and then galloped out real strong."

Other possibilities in the nine-horse field include Pizza Lover, Bear Holiday, and Custer.

Pizza Lover is taking the blinkers off following a wide fifth-place finish in the Victoria Stakes, from which Kodiak Kowboy exited to take the Grade 3 Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill. Trainer Desmond Maynard began training Pizza Lover in February, and he said it wasn't long before the colt began to show some ability.

"I worked him in company one morning, and he spotted the other horse about five lengths and then blew right by him," Maynard said. "We knew then that he was a nice horse. He's not that big, but he's a good-looking horse, and he's very well mannered."

Bear Holiday and Custer finished one-two when they both debuted in a five-furlong maiden special on a speed-favoring Polytrack on June 24.