Experience counts in Pike Place Dancer
Six of the nine 2-year-old fillies in Saturday’s $75,000 Pike Place Dancer will be making their turf debuts, which gives experienced grass runners Sea Mona, Up to Speed, and Bennett Jean an advantage in the one-mile race at Golden Gate Fields.
Sea Mona has run well in turf stakes in her last two starts, finishing second in the Oak Tree Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar in September and fourth in the Surfer Girl at Santa Anita on Oct. 5. She set the pace at 32-1 in the Oak Tree Juvenile Fillies Turf, her turf and route debut, only to get caught by 8-5 favorite She’s Complete in the final 50 yards.
Up to Speed ran second at a mile in a Santa Rosa maiden race in her turf debut and was moved up on the disqualification of first-place finisher Seattle Firm, who came back to win her next start. This will be her first start since that Aug. 2 race.
Bennett Jean is the lone horse in the field to have crossed the wire first in a grass race. She dueled for the lead and held on to win by a half-length in a maiden race down Santa Anita’s 6 1/2-furlong hillside turf course in her last start Oct. 4. Saturday’s race will be her first around two turns.
Lindisfarne won her lone start by seven lengths on the Santa Rosa main track. A City Zip filly, she is trained by Jerry Hollendorfer.
KEY CONTENDERS
SEA MONA (Last 3 Beyers: 70-80-45)
◗ Her two best races have come on turf, and she has the speed to get a good trip with her rail draw.
◗ Since stretching out on turf, she has Beyers of 70 in a troubled trip and an 80. Her best Beyer on the main track is a 49.
SHARLA RAE (Last 3 Beyers: 72-62-59)
◗ She’s making her turf debut. Her dam won two races and was stakes-placed on turf, but she would be the first of her dam’s five foals to win on turf.
◗ She is the lone stakes winner in the field, having captured the Barretts Debutante.
◗ Though never a factor, she did run evenly while splitting the field in a Grade 1 race in her route debut.
UP TO SPEED (Beyers: 47-27)
◗ She’s run twice and has switched barns since her turf debut Aug. 2.
◗ Dam was a graded stakes winner at 2 and hit the board in all four of her turf starts, though she was winless on the surface, and two of her siblings are stakes winners on turf.