Hard to get around Awesome Flower
STICKNEY, Ill. – Next to the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn, the Sixty Sails in Chicago used to be the premier Midwest early-spring dirt-route stakes for the older female set, won by such excellent horses as Lu Ravi, Fleet Indian, and Life At Ten. But the Sixty Sails, like Chicago racing in general, is struggling now, and this year’s edition of the Grade 3, $150,000 race at Hawthorne drew a paltry field of five, none of whom is anywhere near top class.
Sea Shadow and Ketel Twist look too slow to win. Yahilwa and Parc Monceau do their best work on the lead and could easily be headed for a protracted pace battle. That leaves Awesome Flower, the even-money favorite on the track’s morning line and the most likely winner at miniscule odds.
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Awesome Flower never has won at the Sixty Sails’s nine-furlong distance, but that should not be a major impediment to victory since none of her opponents has either.
KEY CONTENDERS
AWESOME FLOWER (Last 3 Beyers: 89-88-86)
◗ She’s an established listed-stakes type, a winner in 11 of her 31 starts. She has won three of her four starts this year, with victories on dirt, turf, and all-weather surfaces.
◗ Solid, more so than brilliant, defines Awesome Flower.
◗ DRF Formulator shows that trainer Mike Maker has gone only 1 for 7 over the last five years with older females in graded dirt-route stakes, but none of those runners went off at odds less than 7-1.
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YAHILWA (Last 3 Beyers: 77-75-91)
◗ Not the same horse when she doesn’t make a clear lead, and Parc Monceau should keep her honest.
FORMULATOR FACT: Trainer Jim Cassidy over the last five years in graded dirt-route stakes is 1-3-3 with a 30-cent return on investment from 24 starters.
PARC MONCEAU (Last 3 Beyers: 86-90-76)
◗ She is bred for this trip, but her last four wins all have come at one mile or shorter.