Itsallatrick looks ready to fire fresh

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Itsallatrick has won only one race in her life - officially, that is.

The 4-year-old Itsallatrick will be looking for victory No. 2 when she returns to the races from a seven-month layoff to meet five rivals in Sunday's Bay Meadows feature, a six-furlong allowance sprint for fillies and mares.

Although she is the only runner in the field who has never run in a claimer, Itsallatrick could be in tough.

On the positive side, she has worked nicely for her comeback. She has shown an ability in the past to run well when fresh. And she's running at a track she loves.

She won a maiden race here last Feb. 26, only to be disqualified and placed fourth after coming out at the break and bumping Ms Melange. Two starts later, after a brief freshener, she scored a game victory here.

Trainer Duane Offield's options were limited, and he brought her back against an extremely tough field in the Vallejo Stakes, where she picked up a check as a distant fourth-place finisher. She then went to the sidelines.

"She came out of the race pretty tired and just needed some time, so we gave her time off during the summer," Offield said.

is one of only two runners in the field with nothing more than a maiden victory to her credit, but she has started just seven times. Everyone else in the field has at least 10 starts, including Ivy League Miss, who appears the one to beat, and Francesca Slew, who leads the field with four career victories.

Offield knows he's asking a lot of Itsallatrick, but he's confident.

"I think she will run well," he said. "She's been ready to run for three weeks."

Itsallatrick had a best-of-19 six-furlong work in 1:12 on Nov. 27. That followed a 59.80-second five-furlong drill, and on Dec. 11, she worked in 59.40 as the second-best worker of 59 at the distance.

Since then, Offield has been in strictly maintenance mode for Itsallatrick's final two works.

"We always thought she'd be a decent filly," he said. "We figured she'd go through her conditions and maybe win or place in one of those little stakes around here."

There's not that much speed in Sunday's race, so Itsallatrick should be sitting close early. Ivy League Miss, who finished in front of Itsallatrick's second career start, should be able to take advantage of the lack of pace to sit close and figures to be tough in the lane.