Formal Miss totes her highest weight

MIAMI - On paper, Formal Miss appears to be a standout against nine other fillies and mares in Sunday's $45,000 Capital Request Stakes at Calder. But that doesn't necessarily make her a good bet in the overnight stakes, scheduled to be run at 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf.

Trained by Paul Maxwell, Formal Miss has been among the leaders of the local filly-and-mare turf division for the last several seasons.

A 6-year-old daughter of Formal Dinner, she is coming off her best race of the season, a two-length victory in the restricted Georgia Peaches Stakes, and she is far and away the leading money earner in the field with a bankroll of over $461,000. She is also the only member of this lineup ever to run a Beyer Speed Figure over 90, having done so on numerous occasions, and again she gets the services of leading rider Manoel Cruz.

What might stop some bettors from taking the plunge on Formal Miss, aside from the price, which figures to be less than even-money, is the eight pounds she must pick up off her victory in the Georgia Peaches.

Formal Miss will tote high weight of 123 pounds under the allowance conditions on Sunday, the most she's carried in 43 career starts.

If the added weight proves too much for the favorite, the stretch-running Miss Bradford Co. could prove to be the major beneficiary. Miss Bradford Co. is coming off a pair of big efforts since being claimed for $16,000 on the last day of spring, having finished second behind recent stakes winner Bayous Lassie on Aug. 12 before rallying from off a slow pace to win a second-level allowance race five weeks later.

The pace in the Capital Request figures to be lively with Vue de Chat and stretch-out sprinters Songofthesouth and Psalms of Praise all likely to show early foot.

There are also a couple of mystery horses in the field, with trainer Marty Wolfson entering the Uruguayan-bred duo of Chiara and Mia Mia, who both will be making their turf and U.S. debuts if they start.

Magic Mecke does Plesa barn proud

Trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. has had several horses perform below par over the past week due to some form of infection that has been passing through his barn. But the problem certainly had little effect on his turf specialist Magic Mecke, who returned from a two-month layoff to outfinish a game Bob's Proud Moment and capture Friday's $40,000 allowance feature.

The victory was the second in three starts this season for Magic Mecke, who returned from an even longer layoff to win the Mecke Handicap earlier this summer.

Plesa said he has been unable to figure out exactly what it is that caused both B. B. Best and his previously undefeated 2-year-old Yesbyjimminy to run so poorly over the weekend.

"Neither showed any signs of being sick going into their races, but it was obvious afterward that both were not right coming out of their races," said Plesa. "Yesbyjimminy hasn't been back to the track yet."

* Veteran agent Irwin Steinberg has taken over the riding engagements for jockey Manny Aguilar. Aguilar is battling Daniel Centeno for seventh place in the standings at the meet.