Fincher has trio lined up for Bold Ego

Trainer Todd Fincher is stacking ‘em deep Sunday in the $50,000 Bold Ego Handicap at Sunland Park in New Mexico. He has three starters in the eight-horse sprint for fillies and mares, including the probable first and second choices in Bryn’s Fancy Pants and Diabolical Dame.

The Bold Ego, which will be run over 5 1/2 furlongs, will share a card with the $85,000 Four Rivers John Deere. Happy Hennessy could go favored in the Four Rivers John Deere, a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds who were bred in New Mexico.

Bryn’s Fancy Pants, Diabolical Dame, and Tilla Cat, the third starter for Fincher, will all be moving from statebred races into open company for the Bold Ego. Bryn’s Fancy Pants and Diabolical Dame have won stakes against open company, while Tilla Cat became a stakes winner during the New Mexico Cup program of statebred races Oct. 30 at Zia Park.

Fincher’s runners bring contrasting styles into the Bold Ego. Tilla Cat has used her excellent speed to win 4 of 15 starts, and figures to set the fractions or track her main pace rival, Laugh It Up. Tilla Cat will break from post 3 under Justin Shepherd.

Diabolical Dame has been effective stalking the pace, and at one point during the 2015-2016 season in New Mexico won seven straight races. Diabolical Dame is the co-highweight at 121 pounds for the Bold Ego and enters off a runner-up finish to Bryn’s Fancy Pants in the $85,000 New Mexico Racing Commission Handicap on Dec. 18 at Sunland. Tracy Hebert has the mount from post 2.

Bryn’s Fancy Pants closed with a flourish to win the New Mexico Racing Commission Handicap by a half-length. It was her sixth win from seven career starts. Alfredo Juarez Jr. has the mount on Bryn’s Fancy Pants, who is weighted at 120 and breaks from the rail Sunday.

In the Four Rivers, Happy Hennessy will be looking for his second straight stakes win. He romped by seven lengths in the $140,000 Eddy County against statebreds at Zia in his last start Nov. 23. The race was Happy Hennessy’s first around two turns, and he overcame post 10. Earlier in his career, Happy Hennessy ran second or third in four sprint stakes at various tracks in New Mexico. Enrique Gomez has the mount for owner and trainer Fred Danley.