Eyeful starts over in Friday allowance
Eyeful faced a tall order in her U.S. debut, going 1 1/4 miles in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor last October. She returns in a more manageable spot Friday at Belmont Park.
Eyeful is pegged as the 7-5 morning-line choice over six rival turf-meant fillies and mares. She fits the conditions snugly – seven furlongs on the Widener course for non-winners twice “other than,” and will be first-time Lasix off some nicely spaced workouts at Fair Hill.
“We had planned to run her in Florida, but she got sick and missed three or four weeks,” said trainer Graham Motion, who this week saddled the 2,000th North American winner of his career. “This is kind of a good starting point. I would imagine down the road she’ll go a mile and a sixteenth or a mile and an eighth, but she has run well doing this before.”
In addition to a maiden win at about seven furlongs at Longchamp, Eyeful won the one-mile Prix Coronation at Saint-Cloud last fall. In the E.P. Taylor, she pressed the pace and finished a very respectable fifth.
Among those set to oppose Eyeful are Isabella Sings and Keri Belle. Isabella Sings has won both times she faced non-stakes company. She is trained by meet-leading trainer Todd Pletcher. Keri Belle, trained by John Shirreffs, is perfect from two starts on turf, one at Aqueduct and one at Santa Anita.
Race 2
KEY CONTENDERS
Eyeful (Beyer: 94)
◗ The 94 Beyer Speed Figure she earned in the E.P. Taylor tops the lineup by 10 points.
◗ Both of her victories in France came on firm turf.
Isabella Sings (Last 3 Beyers: 80-76-79)
◗ Potential pacesetter began her career with a front-running maiden win going six furlongs on Belmont’s inner turf last July.
◗ Her only other start that wasn’t a stakes resulted in a win over preliminary allowance foes first time out in 2015.
◗ She was beaten a neck in the Grade 2 Natalma in her second start.
Keri Belle (Last 3 Beyers: 84-79-56)
◗ Homebred from the connections of Zenyatta has raised her game since being switched to turf, wiring maidens on yielding ground at Aqueduct and rallying from off the pace to win a first-level allowance at Santa Anita.
◗ Breezed a bullet five furlongs last Friday.
Hillhouse High (Last 3 Beyers: 74-77-70)
◗ Most recent win was at seven furlongs on the Widener course last June.
◗ Gets a switch to leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr. following an even try in her seasonal debut.