Hard Not to Like faces tall task in Gallorette
BALTIMORE – The Grade 3, $150,000 Gallorette Handicap kicks off the late pick five Saturday at Pimlico, and if you’re looking for a single, you’ve come to the wrong race.
A field of 13 fillies and mares is entered for the Gallorette, scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the turf, and it’s arguably the most difficult handicapping puzzle on the 14-race card.
Hard Not to Like, second in the 2013 Gallorette, and Watsdachances, the runner-up in last year’s Gallorette, will once again be major players, but neither is entirely trustworthy.
Hard Not to Like has raced only four times in the last two years, though she’s won twice, including the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes in 2014, and was disqualified from another win.
Trainer Christophe Clement, a two-time winner of the Gallorette, was not certain to keep Hard Not to Like in the race, owing in part to the fact that she has to carry 122 pounds and is conceding six to 11 pounds to the field. Clement also is concerned about rain.
“She’s good enough to run on softer ground, but I think she’s better on firm,” he said.
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Watsdachances has not run since finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl last September. She was beaten a half-length by Somali Lemonade in this race a year ago in her first start off a six-month layoff.
“She seems to be training very well,” trainer Chad Brown said. “She ran well in the race last year. If we get a little rain and there’s some cut in the ground, that would benefit her.”
Adding confusion to the mix are a couple of former European-based entrants making their North American debuts in this spot. Mango Diva, a 5-year-old Britain-bred mare, won a Group 2 in Ireland last July. Now trained by Michael Matz, who won this race in 2014 with Somali Lemonade, Mango Diva makes her first start since last September.
Token of Love, a listed winner in Britain last year, goes out for the first time for Graham Motion, who said the filly was sent to this country to run at Keeneland last year but missed the race and remained here with him. Motion also sends out Joy, who goes second off a layoff after getting beaten 2 1/4 lengths in the Dahlia Stakes here April 18.
Key contenders
Hard Not to Like (Last 3 Beyers: 89-89-94)
* The only Grade 1 winner in the field, Hard Not to Like is a four-time winner at the distance.
* In a race devoid of speed, she figures to be on or near the pace under John Velazquez, who is 6 for 8 in graded stakes for Clement since Dec. 27 and was disqualified from a seventh victory.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 7 Hard Not To Like. Trainer Christophe Clement is 10-8-1-0 with a $6.48 ROI over the past year in turf route graded stakes with John Velazquez aboard. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Watsdachances (Last 3 Beyers: 94-91-91)
* Has only one win in her last 11 starts, but she ran a solid second in this race last year and gets eight pounds from Hard Not to Like.
* In the last three years, trainer Brown has two wins and a second in this race.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 8 Watsdachances. Trainer Chad Brown is winless (14-0-5-2) over the past five years in turf route graded stakes following a layoff of 180 days or more. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Sistas Stroll (Last 3 Beyers: 88-86-85)
* Winner of the Grade 3 Pucker Up Stakes at Arlington last summer, she is making her second start off a layoff, finishing fifth, beaten two lengths, in a stakes-caliber third-level allowance April 17 at Keeneland.