Hastings: Evelyn’s Dancer looks tough in Strawberry Morn

Evelyn’s Dancer is going to be tough to beat in the 6 1/2-furlong, $50,000 Strawberry Morn at Hastings on Monday. Trained by Troy Taylor, Evelyn’s Dancer has won five of her last six races at Hastings, and in her only loss, she ran a huge race to finish second behind Class Included in the Grade 3 Ballerina, where she was facing older fillies and mares for the first time. She dominated the local 3-year-old filly division last year, and prior to her loss in the Ballerina, she romped by 5 1/4 lengths in the $100,000 British Columbia Oaks.

Evelyn’s Dancer, who is owned by Mark DeDomenico LLC and Glen Todd, was as good as ever when she scored a front-running win over Overvalued in the Brighouse Belles on April 27 and, according to Taylor, she has trained forwardly leading up to this race.

Aaron Gryder retains the mount.

Overvalued and Evelyn’s Dancer carried 124 pounds in the Brighouse Belles, and Overvalued will get a five-pound swing in the weights while carrying 119 pounds compared to 124 for Evelyn’s Dancer in the Strawberry Morn.

Overvalued’s trainer, Tracy McCarthy, knows what she is up against. She trained Monashee, who between June 10, 2006, and Oct. 13, 2007, won 11 stakes races in a row running at Hastings and Northlands Park. “Glen told me she is another Monashee, and he could be right,” McCarthy said of Evelyn’s Dancer. “Overvalued is a pretty nice horse, too, so hopefully she’ll give her a run for her money.”

If Todd is right and Evelyn’s Dancer is going come close to Monashee’s record, she will need to prove she can carry serious weight. In one of Monashee’s wins, she carried 130 pounds.