Igraine returns with something to prove

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Igraine showed just enough promise last winter to make trainer David Hofmans believe that she could develop into a stakes runner.

The objective has not changed as 2007 draws to a close.

Igraine returns from a layoff of nearly eight months in a $45,000 allowance race over 6 1/2 furlongs at Hollywood Park on Friday. She will be attempting to win the second race of her career, and prove to Hofmans and owners John and Jerry Amerman that she is deserving of a start in the La Canada Series for 4-year-old fillies at Santa Anita this winter.

"She's coming up to it really well," Hofmans said. "The race might be a little short for her, but she likes the Cushion Track."

Igraine will make her Cushion Track debut Friday. She was third in a maiden race on Polytrack at Turfway Park in November 2006 before joining Hofmans's stable. The Turfway Park race is her only start on a synthetic track.

For Hofmans, Igraine beat maidens in her California debut over 1 1/16 miles last January and later finished fourth and second in allowance races. She was turned out with a tibia injury last spring.

Igraine will be seeking her first win in a sprint and will be in pursuit of several speedy rivals.

The race has drawn Shawklit Sundae, who was fourth in the Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes and fifth in the Landaluce Stakes in 2006, and Kalamata, a recent claim by owner Bob Bone and trainer Jeff Mullins. Those two are expected to show speed.

Shawklit Sundae has started once this year, finishing last of 10 in an allowance race on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Oct. 18. She was with the leaders for the first half-mile before fading.

Trainer Brian Koriner wonders if Shawklit Sundae may prefer a shorter race than Friday's.

"The distance concerns me and her lack of effort in her last race down the hill concerns me," Koriner said. "She only has one way to go."

Intangaroo may go favored. Trained by Gary Sherlock for Tom Grether, Intangaroo won her debut here in June, but lost her next four starts. In her most recent outing, she rallied from sixth to finish second by a head in an optional claimer at Santa Anita on Oct. 21.

Since that race, Intangaroo has worked quickly, a half-mile in 46.60 seconds on Nov. 7, the fastest of 37 recorded works at the distance.