Force may be with Revenge of the Sis in Frizette

ELMONT, N.Y. – It was only two years ago when Scottish Lassie, as a maiden, won the Grade 1 Frizette by nine lengths. In Saturday’s renewal of the $500,000 Frizette, there is an interesting maiden who just might offer some value in the one-mile race for 2-year-old fillies.

Revenge of the Sis, a full sister to Grade 1 winner Dorth Vader, enters the Frizette off a third-place finish to the uber-impressive Emphatic in the Sorority Stakes on Aug. 29 at Monmouth Park. A first-time starter in the Sorority, Revenge of the Sis broke poorly, was more than 10 lengths out of it down the backside, and made a sustained rally before flattening out late, ultimately beaten 6 3/4 lengths.

It was trainer George Weaver’s belief that Revenge of the Sis is not a sprinter that led him to start Revenge of the Sis in the one-mile Sorority without having made a start. Weaver was well aware of the filly’s penchant for being a slow starter from the gate.

“She does have some talent. She’s been notoriously a bit slow from the gate in the morning. I expected her to be slow out of the gate at Monmouth, and she was,” Weaver said. “I thought she sustained a pretty nice rally once she got rolling. We let her bounce out of the gate a couple of mornings ago. Hopefully over time, she places herself a little bit better out of the gate.”

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Provided she can break somewhat better than she did first time out, Revenge of the Sis could benefit from the potential for a pace battle in the Frizette, which drew a field of seven. Edgard Zayas rides Revenge of the Sis from the rail.

Libby Lloyd was a front-running, 10-length winner of her debut Aug. 15 at Saratoga. Breaking from the rail that day under Flavien Prat, Libby Lloyd dictated terms, opened up her advantage at each point of call, and won relatively in hand, though she did drift out some.

“I expected her to win on debut, but she exceeded expectations by the margin and manner in which she did it,” trainer Chad Brown said. “She trained like a Saratoga debut winner from the time she stepped into the barn. She was always highly thought of by her owners – Niall Brennan, who had her in Ocala, and by us. Everyone who touched her said she had way-above-average speed and quality.”

Brown believes Libby Lloyd, a daughter of Into Mischief, is built like a filly that will be able to carry her speed a mile.

“Especially around one bend,” he said. “She has a lot of stamina on the dam side and [sire] Into Mischief, he gets horses that run a wide range of distances and surfaces. She is a medium-sized, strongly built horse. She acts like she has a lot of speed and can carry it.”

She’s a Twelve and Girls Wear Pearls showed speed winning their maidens sprinting, the latter doing so at Del Mar with the addition of blinkers for trainer Jena Antonucci.

“The blinkers helped to just focus her up a little bit,” Antonucci said. “Now, she’s a little bit more worried about herself and not so much about everybody around her.”

Rum Twist, a daughter of Mandaloun, came from off the pace to win a seven-furlong maiden race by 5 3/4 lengths in her third career start. Trainer Mark Hennig felt Rum Twist was trip-compromised in her first two starts, including a fourth to Summer Starlet, who came back to win the Grade 1 Spinaway and was scheduled to run as the favorite in Friday’s Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland.

“I thought getting a good trip was the thing that made the difference,” Hennig said. “She just had a horrible trip in both of her first two races, ran on in spite of it. I do think she wants to run all day.”

Paco Lopez, aboard for the maiden win, is in town to ride her Saturday.

Velora beat New York-breds handily in both a maiden race and the Seeking the Ante Stakes. Trainer Linda Rice now steps her up to open company and stretches her out in distance.

“I have thought all along she could be effective at the mile,” Rice said. “It’s a big step up, she’s run against New York-breds, but I feel she’s the right kind to make the transition well.”

Dotsy, a daughter Tacitus who brought just $37,000 at auction, was a Saratoga debut winner for horses that either sold or did not reach their reserve of $65,000 or less.

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