Indian Burn starts slow, finishes fast

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Indian Burn hasn't quite mastered the art of how to start a race, but she is pretty adept about how to finish one.

Indian Burn has overcome slow beginnings to win her last two races and will seek her third consecutive victory in Sunday's $65,000 Dearly Precious Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct. Indian Burn will face six opponents in the six-furlong Dearly Precious, which will go as race 4 on a 10-race program.

Indian Burn wasn't standing properly when the gates opened for last month's Ruthless Stakes, got off slowly, and was pinched back to last. But she came with a sustained rally under Richard Migliore to win the race by 1 1/4 lengths.

"It's nice when you see a [young] filly want to come from behind, take the dirt in their face, and settle and make a run,'' said Migliore, who will ride Indian Burn for trainer John Hertler. "You like that because she'll be finishing. If they come back you'll have a say in the outcome.''

While Migliore expects Indian Burn to come from off the pace again on Sunday, he would rather see her do it on her own terms.

"I'm sure John has schooled her, so hopefully she'll act a little bit better in the gate,'' Migliore said. "You figure she's going to be back anyway, but you hate to give it away at the gate.''

Sunday's race appears to have ample speed to set things up for Indian Burn. Maryland shipper Gator Prowl and Penn National shipper Bellflower both look like they prefer to do their running on the front end. Wild News adds blinkers after finishing fourth in Ruthless. Her lone win did come on the front end.

Fuzzy Britches and Judge Sonya, second and third in the Busanda at a mile and 70 yards, are cutting back to six furlongs. Three days before the Busanda, Fuzzy Britches won a six-furlong starter allowance race.

Judge Sonya won a two-turn allowance race at Penn National in November before finishing third in the Busanda.