Flashy American likely making penultimate start in Groupie Doll
The biggest race of the year at Ellis Park also might be the best, as a full and very well-balanced field of fillies and mares will clash Saturday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Groupie Doll Stakes at the western Kentucky track.
Flashy American, easily the leading earner in an oversubscribed lineup with a bankroll of $757,183, will be making what figures to be her second-to-last career start in the one-mile Groupie Doll.
“We think it’s a great spot for her,” trainer Ken McPeek said this week from Saratoga. “She’s in foal to Orb and runs with no Lasix because of that. She’ll probably run just one more time, next month at Churchill Downs.”
Flashy American will break from the far-outside post when ridden by Victor Lebron as perhaps the lukewarm favorite in the Groupie Doll, which is carded as the last of nine Saturday races. First post is 12:50 p.m. Central, with the feature set for 4:40.
Willow Hills, a winner in three of four career starts, is among the other viable contenders, along with Call Pat, Pretty Fancy, Rathbaun, Ambusher, and Pearl Turn. In all, 16 are entered, although only as many as 12 can go.
The Groupie Doll, the only graded race at a 31-day meet that runs through Sept. 7, had been known as the Gardenia since its 1982 inception until being renamed this year in honor of Groupie Doll, the two-time female sprint champion (2012-13) who won the 2011 Gardenia as a 3-year-old. The race starts out of the clubhouse-turn chute.
Ellis owner Ron Geary is hosting a campaign fund-raising gathering Saturday at the track for Jack Conway, the Democratic candidate for Kentucky governor. Conway’s father, Tom, is a longtime horse owner and board member of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
KEY CONTENDERS
Flashy American (Last 3 Beyers: 86-82-83)
The names on her past performances include Close Hatches, Untapable, and Molly Morgan, so she brings an obvious touch of class to these proceedings; if she can get a decent stalking trip, her nine-race losing streak might well be snapped.
Willow Hills (Last 3 Beyers: 86-89-74)
There’s a certain symmetry to her presence here – her dam, Pleasant Hills, won the 2007 Gardenia as a 3-year-old – and she has shown enough in limited opportunities to be a factor given a top effort; the stretch-out should make her an early presence.
Call Pat (Last 3 Beyers: 93-71-76)
Useful mare jumps up with the occasional big one and figures to be saving ground from the start with Joe Rocco Jr. aboard.
Trainer Brad Cox continues to strike at an outstanding rate at all venues (24 percent in 2015).
Pretty Fancy (Last 3 Beyers: 79-88-66)
Something akin to her two-back run in the Grade 3 Doubledogdare at Keeneland would make her a threat here; stands to benefit from her most recent start at Prairie Meadows.