Dear Lilly will try to pair wins in Friday sprint feature
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Dear Lilly appreciated the class relief when she quit chasing the top older fillies and mares at Hastings and dropped into a $25,000 optional-claiming race, winning that 6 1/2-furlong test July 18. She will try to repeat when she comes back in a similar spot Friday night, and the horse she may have to beat is her stablemate Summit Central.
Post time for the first of seven races is 7:05 p.m. Pacific.
Trained by Troy Taylor, Dear Lilly looked good in winning a $35,000 optional-claiming race in her first start this year but then couldn’t keep up with Arabella’s Muse in back-to-back stakes attempts. She hits pretty hard when running in higher-priced claiming and optional-claiming races, and a lot of her success has to do with her versatility. She has plenty of speed but is capable of stalking like she did in her most recent win over Hidden Harbor.
Confusing the issue is that jockey David Lopez, aboard for both of Dear Lilly’s wins at the meet, bails to ride Summit Central, who hasn’t raced since she won a $32,000 maiden-claiming race at Golden Gate Fields on March 9, 2014.
Nobody will complain with leading rider Richard Hamel picking up the mount on Dear Lilly, who will break from the inside post.
Summit Central doesn’t look like a serious threat on paper, but she has been impressive in the mornings and galloped out strongly when she worked seven furlongs in 1:26 with Lopez aboard last Sunday.
Hidden Harbor could be sitting on a big effort in just her third start this year and could be the one stalking instead of being chased by Dear Lilly like she was in her runner-up finish July 18.
KEY CONTENDERS
Dear Lilly (Last 3 Beyers: 77-66-60)
◗ Her Beyer Speed Figures are on the rise, and she came back with two solid works following her sharp win over Hidden Harbor on July 18.
Hidden Harbor (Last 3 Beyers: 73-76-65)
◗ Trained by Tracy McNeil, she is reunited with Amadeo Perez, who was aboard for all three of her wins here last year.
◗ She could get a perfect stalking trip from the outside post as opposed to being forced to play her hand early when she drew the rail last time.
Summit Central (Last 3 Beyers: 64-61-59)
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: She has been impressive in the mornings, and over the past five years, Taylor has a 20 percent strike rate with horses he brought back from a layoff of more than 180 days.