Decade has what it takes to win Blue Sparkler

Trainer Steve Asmussen won last Saturday’s Regret Stakes, a turf sprint at Monmouth, with the mare Honey I’m Good, and in this Saturday’s $75,000 Blue Sparkler, he sends out the filly Decade, who looks good in the turf sprint for 3-year-old fillies at Monmouth.

The Blue Sparkler is carded at 5 1/2 furlongs on grass, and while the Saturday forecast calls for sunshine, heavy rain was supposed to inundate the area through Friday evening. Ova Charged and Shop Girl, both of whom could contend, were entered for the main track only, while Decade can compete regardless of the surface.

Decade has started four times, all on dirt, winning a maiden race on a fast track at age 2 and coming back for her 3-year-old bow with a sharp score over sloppy going at Oaklawn Park. She made her stakes debut last month in the Jersey Girl at Belmont Park, pressing the pace before fading to fourth while facing some talented fillies.

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Asmussen said Decade never has trained on grass, but her bloodlines suggest she’ll like it. The filly is by California Chrome, whose offspring often prefer turf, and is out of the Unbridled’s Song mare Emma Carly. Emma Carly was a turf runner, winning grass races from seven furlongs to 1 1/16 miles, and all six of her foals to race have won on the grass.

Decade drew the outside but has speed to get position and has won with a stalking trip before.

“I think it’s a great spot for her,” said Asmussen, who trains Decade for LNJ Foxwoods. “She’s a nice, talented filly. Curious to see how she’ll run on the turf, pedigree-wise, and if it rains off, that won’t bother us, either.”

There’s plenty of pace entered in the Blue Sparkler, including Wink, who dueled and tired to ninth in her last start, the May 21 Mamzelle at Churchill Downs. Wink is a better filly than that, and her second-place finish racing over good-to-soft ground in a Group 3 in France last year suggests a wet course won’t hurt her.

Wink beat Running Memories in a Gulfstream turf-sprint stakes in March, but Running Memories raced without Lasix that day and has won her four starts, all turf sprints, when administered the anti-bleeding medication. Running Memories, trained by Joe Orseno, cruised to a first-level Monmouth allowance race win last month when meeting older fillies and mares.

Cilla, another California Chrome filly, crushed Louisiana-bred stakes foes at Evangeline Downs last month. In her only grass start, she ran ninth in the Sorority Stakes going a mile at Monmouth in September. She has the right style to capitalize on a hot, contested pace and get a piece of things at a square price.