Golden Gate Debutante: Miss Success back with fillies

Trainer Greg James had a good reason for entering his filly Miss Success against males in the Golden Nugget Stakes three weeks ago.

“I thought she’d win,” he said after the Successful Appeal filly finished third in a three-way photo. “She would have had she not gone five wide.”

Miss Success is back with her own sex Saturday when six 2-year-old fillies compete in the $50,000 Golden Gate Debutante at six furlongs.

But James is not as confident going into Saturday’s race, calling it a tougher spot than the Golden Nugget.

“I can’t believe how loaded it is,” he said.

Miss Success will be facing two stakes winners Saturday, Swiss Lake Yodeler, who is coming off a victory in the $200,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies, a one-mile race held on Breeders’ Cup Friday at Santa Anita, and the undefeated Look Quickly, who won the Juan Gonzalez at Pleasanton.

Also entered is Rever de Vous, who scored an impressive victory in her debut here Nov. 2. Sergeant O’Rourke and Stunning Drama, who each won her debut and then tested stakes company in her second start, round out the field.

Swiss Lake Yodeler, Look Quickly, and Miss Success have each run three times and showed improvement in each start.

Miss Success finished second in her debut, won a Golden Gate maiden race in her second start, and was beaten a neck in the Golden Nugget.

“She’s getting bigger, stronger, and improving on her own,” James said of Miss Success, who finished fast in the Golden Nugget. “She loves to train. That’s the difference between a good horse and a bad horse. She wants to go out and do her job.”

Look Quickly was off for 3 1/2 months after her victory in the Juan Gonzalez and then beat males by five lengths in an Oct. 24 allowance race here.

“She’s training good,” said breeder-owner-trainer Bill Morey Jr. “Things are going well, but this is a step up. This is a solid bunch of entries.”

Morey worked Look Quickly regularly in company when she started training, schooling her to relax, and the strategy worked out well. She is content to sit back early and make a big move in the lane.

“She’s okay to work by herself now and still gets a lot out of it,” Morey said.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer sends out Rever de Vous, a $185,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, and he supplemented Swiss Lake Yodeler, owned and bred by Larry and Marianne Williams.

Rever de Vous won her debut from the rail, sitting off fast splits and pulling clear in the lane.

“We’re always looking to get stakes wins and stakes placings for our fillies,” Hollendorfer said.