Hawthorne: Sasy Ms Elizabeth unproven at Illinois Debutante distance
STICKNEY, Ill. – That most powerful two-letter word, “if,” lies at the heart of the Pat Whitworth Illinois Debutante Stakes for Illinois-bred fillies Saturday at Hawthorne.
There’s little doubt Sasy Ms Elizabeth is the most talented in the Debutante, which offers a purse of about $100,000, depending on the foaling status of the race’s Illinois-bred starters. In September at Fairmount Park, she won the $52,000 All Sold Out Stakes by more than five lengths, and at Hawthorne on Nov. 9, Sasy Ms Elizabeth captured the $88,200 Showtime Deb Stakes by two lengths.
But Sasy Ms Elizabeth – trained by Leroy Hellman and owned by Hellman and breeders Betty and Tom Ninnis – never has raced beyond six furlongs. The Debutante will be contested at 1 1/16 miles, and Sasy Ms Elizabeth’s pedigree is a study in mixed messages. Her sire, Giacomo, won the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby, but her dam, Denoun N Deverb, while a stakes winner, was a pure sprinter, scoring all 11 of her victories in races around one turn.
If Sasy Ms Elizabeth can transfer her sprint form to a route she wins. But backers will be offered only a pittance to find out, with Sasy Ms Elizabeth listed at 2-5 odds on the Hawthorne morning line. And if she cannot, the winner will automatically pay a nice price with the favorite so heavily backed.
The 2-3-4 finishers behind Sasy Ms Elizabeth in the Showtime Deb were not entered in the Debutante – owing, perhaps, to the favorite’s perceived superiority – but the fifth- and sixth-place finishers were.
Tanqueray Miss, does not have a whole lot more stamina in her pedigree than Sasy Ms Elizabeth, but ran in the six-furlong Showtime Deb like a horse who might appreciate added distance.
Prairie Vista finished sixth in the Showtime Deb, but had trouble at the start and was forced to try and rally from 14 lengths off the early pace. She came back to finish second in a maiden sprint race, and has a chance to improve Saturday. Carlos Silva trains Prairie Vista, a daughter of Pollard’s Vision, and also starts Pistols Drawn, who tried a dirt route for the first time Nov. 23 and won a $25,000 maiden claimer by a whopping 17 lengths.
The dam of Bylia, Defuhr, finished second when she ran in the Debutante, and Bylia might at least outrun her 30-1 morning-line odds. She was in against open maiden foes last out at Churchill and had trouble in her previous race at Hawthorne.