Jazzminegem makes stakes debut in Susan B. Anthony

A sharp filly who has raced exclusively at Aqueduct and a long-absent horse for the course look like the prime contenders in the first stakes of the season Saturday at Finger Lakes.

Jazzminegem, who will be spotting each of her six rivals six pounds as the 124-pound highweight after winning back-to-back starts on the New York Racing Association circuit for trainer Linda Rice, and Alwaysinstilettos, who has five wins and three seconds in eight starts locally, will break from adjoining stalls in the $50,000 Susan B. Anthony Stakes. The six-furlong sprint, restricted to New York-bred fillies and mares, goes as race 7 at 4:10 p.m. Eastern.

The 4-year-old Jazzminegem has been favored in each of her last four starts and is listed as the 4-5 choice on the track’s morning line for her stakes debut.

Alwaysinstilettos, second by a neck in last year’s New York Oaks, will be making her first start since November.

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Key contenders

Jazzminegem (Last 3 Beyers: 77-76-59)

There are lots of things to like about this filly. Her most recent win April 2 produced two next-out winners. Rice has won with two of the first three horses she has started at the current meet and is 9 for 29 (31 percent), with a healthy $2.27 ROI, with sprinters she has shipped to Finger Lakes for their first start following a break of 31 to 60 days. Jockey Oscar Gomez is 15 for 37 (41 percent) riding for Rice at Finger Lakes the last two years.

Alwaysinstilettos (Last 3 Beyers: 24-31-72)

She was given time off following two dreadful performances at Aqueduct last fall. The last time she sprinted at Finger Lakes, Alwaysinstilettos romped by nearly seven lengths. Trainer M. Anthony Ferraro is 6 for 18 (33 percent) with older female sprinters returning from a break of more than 180 days.

Mom’s Law (Last 3 Beyers: 35-75-27)

Her last seven starts in 2014 were routes, and she was a distant fourth while returning from a long layoff in this same stakes last spring. On the plus side, this 5-year-old mare owns seven wins locally, and trainer Michele Lecesse is 4 for 18 (22 percent) with horses switching from routes to sprints following a layoff of more than 180 days.