Dubai Dancer tries two turns in Witches Brew

The lightly raced Dubai Dancer, an impressive winner of her last two starts, and the frequently raced filly C C’s Pal, who has picked up second or third money in four stakes during her 14-race career, look like the prime contenders in Sunday’s $70,000 Witches Brew Stakes at Monmouth Park.

The mile-and-70-yard stakes, restricted to 3-year-old fillies, drew a field of six and goes as race 9 on a 10-race card.

Dubai Dancer, a half-sister to 2008 Ashland winner Little Belle, was unraced at 2 and a distant seventh when she made her career debut last January. She resurfaced in early August at Saratoga, romping by seven lengths and earning a solid 83 Beyer Speed Figure, then showed that was no fluke when she came back five weeks later to defeat first-level allowance runners going a mile at Belmont Park. The 91 Beyer Speed Figure that Dubai Dancer earned last time out is by far the best lifetime figure in Sunday’s field.

The main question for Dubai Dancer, a Darley Stable-owned runner trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, is how she will adapt to racing around two turns for the first time.

C C’s Pal has often been close in stakes, including seconds in the Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs in March and the Serena’s Song at Monmouth in mid-July. She has not been worse than third in three career starts locally.

Trained by Derek Ryan, C C’s Pal comes out of a productive race in the two-turn, seven-furlong Charles Town Oaks. Two of the fillies who finished far back in that $400,000 stakes – seventh-place finisher Karmageddon and ninth-place Belle of the Hall – returned to win stakes in their next starts.

The field also includes Bwana Babe, a former claimer who steps up substantially in class following three straight wins by a combined margin of 14 1/4 lengths, and Lil Kiara, a New Jersey-bred who missed by three-quarters of a length as the 6-5 favorite in the Maryland Million Oaks four weeks ago.

Parx Racing-based trainer John Servis, who is just 3 for 32 shipping into Monmouth this season, sends out Vindy City, winner of the Miss Preakness at Pimlico in May. A winner in her lone route start in January, Vindy City stretches out for the second start of her current form cycle after winning a third-level optional $40,000 claimer going 6 1/2 furlongs at her home track Oct. 4.