Girlfrienontheside waiting for turf

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Girlfrienontheside, unbeaten since making the switch to grass sprints, looks to extend her winning streak to three Saturday night in the $60,000 Witches' Brew Stakes at the Meadowlands.

The Witches' Brew, for fillies and mares at five furlongs, and the $35,000 Grey Ghost Starter Handicap for gray or roan horses, are the Big M's traditional Halloween features.

The Meadowlands would love to keep both races on the turf, a challenge as Mother Nature has dealt more rainy tricks than dry-weather treats during this meet.

Girlfrienontheside was rained out of her last Big M start: the P.G. Johnson Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Oct. 17. When the race came off the turf, trainer Tony Dutrow kept Girlfrienontheside in the barn.

Weather permitting, the Witches' Brew will be Girlfrienontheside's first start since winning the Crank It Up Stakes at Monmouth on June 28 with a rousing rally up the fence.

She got sick after the race, costing her the balance of the summer campaign.

"It wasn't a big deal," Dutrow said. "I probably made a bigger deal out of it. She got a temperature and was sick for three, four, or five days. I gave her plenty of time and there wasn't anything out there against straight 3-year-olds at the time."

This will be her fourth straight grass appearance. She ran three times at 2 on the main track, earning stakes placings in the Astoria (second) at Belmont and in the Grade 3 Schuylerville (third) at Saratoga.

It was at Saratoga last summer that Dutrow introduced Girlfrienontheside to the turf.

"We had the opportunity there to train her on the turf," Dutrow said. "She took to it very, very well although we didn't run her on it until the following year. We were feeling very good about it, based on the experience we had at Saratoga."

Girlfrienontheside ran fourth in her grass debut, going a mile at Belmont in May. Since then, she is 2 for 2 in distances ranging from 5 1/2 to six furlongs.

This will be her first stakes appearance against older horses.

Don'tgetsuspicious, also 3, has had a terrific year for trainer Scott Lake following a claim for $25,000 at Laurel last December. She has won six times for the new barn, earning $147,810. Don'tgetsuspicious, who has never run on grass, was third most recently as the even-money favorite in the P.G. Johnson.