F/M Turf - Drysdale: Kalypso Katie can tango

ELMONT, N.Y. - Four of the 12 prospective starters for the Filly and Mare Turf will be supplemented to the race: England's Legend and Starine, the second- and third-place finishers in the Flower Bowl Handicap; Spook Express, winner of the Winstar Galaxy Stakes; and Kalypso Katie, whose only victory since May of 2000 is a second level allowance race this year at Hollywood Park.

At first glance Kalypso Katie appears to be a bit ambitiously placed in the Filly and Mare Turf. But the fact that trainer Neil Drysdale, already a six-time Breeders' Cup winner, thinks enough of her chances to persuade owner Michael Tabor to put up a $90,000 supplemental fee to get his filly into the race is enough to make anybody take a second look at this horse, who figures to be a big price on Breeders' Cup Day.

"She's coming up to the race really well," Drysdale said, minutes after Kalypso Katie breezed seven furlongs in 1:28.80 over Belmont's inner turf course with jockey Gary Stevens aboard on Thursday. "She was well within herself and just cruising out there this morning. The race is tough, that's fairly obvious. But she's very fit and I believe she's a really good filly."

Kalypso Katie has started only seven times, the last three since she was transferred to Drysdale's barn for the 2001 season. She won her only start at 2, her 3-year-old debut in 2000, and her first race this year. She then ran fifth in the Gamely Breeders'Cup Handicap and third in the Beverly Hills Handicap, respectively. She last raced on June 24.

"She didn't appear to be doing well over the hard ground on the West Coast so I decided to back off her a bit and send her east," said Drysdale. "She also seems to do her best off a layoff, which is why I didn't give her a prep for the Breeders' Cup."

Stevens, who has been aboard Kalypso Katie in her last two starts, said the 4-year-old daughter of Fairy King is training in the same as she did before her impressive allowance win this year.

"She seems like a filly who can't take a lot of racing because she puts so much into her training," said Stevens. "She tailed off on us after that first win so Neil freshened her up. I've worked her the last two times and she's doing awesome."

Kalypso Katie was one of three Filly and Mare Turf hopefuls to work Thursday. The others are likely favorite Lailani and longshot Chaste.

Lailani worked in company with Godolphin Stable's Zahwah, going five furlongs in 1:00.80 (officially timed six furlongs in 1:15.40).

"She's never been a particularly flamboyant worker," trainer Edward Dunlop said by phone from England. "We let her down a little after she won the Flower Bowl and now we're just trying to build her back up again. She certainly doesn't have to prove anything in the morning after winning the Flower Bowl and seven races in a row."

Along with Lailani, Dunlop will send out Mot Juste in the Filly and Mare Turf. A 3-year-old English-bred daughter of Mtoto, Mot Juste has won only one of six starts this year but is coming off a strong second-place finish in the Group 1 Prix de l'Opera at Longchamp. Earlier this year she was second, beaten a neck by Lailani, in the Group 1 Irish Oaks.

"It was pretty much a last minute decision to bring her to the Breeders' Cup," said Dunlop. "But this might be the last run of her career. She has a very good form line, and is coming off potentially the best race of her life. So we thought she deserved the chance."

Chaste, a non-threatening fourth behind Lailani in the Flower Bowl, worked five furlongs over the main track in 1:02.

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