Jess Jackson Juvenile, Wine Country Debutante get cream of the crop
It’s still early in the juvenile racing season, but a pair of 2-year-olds who arguably are at the head of their class in Northern California will compete in separate stakes Sunday at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa.
Song From Above, who won the Juan Gonzalez Memorial at the Oak Tree at Pleasanton meet, will meet six rivals in the Wine Country Debutante for fillies. Artie B Good, who unleashed a devastating closing kick at Sacramento in his only start, makes his stakes debut in the Jess Jackson Juvenile, formerly known as the Cavonnier.
Each stakes is at six furlongs and worth $50,000.
Song From Above won Northern California’s first 2-year-old race of the year, beating colts at Golden Gate Fields, before dominating the Juan Gonzalez Memorial. With Frank Alvarado aboard, Song From Above stalked the pace in the 5 1/2-furlong stakes race and powered home to win by three lengths. Her Beyer Speed Figure of 68 is tops in the Wine Country Debutante field.
Song From Above has worked steadily since that July 1 race, including a pair of five-furlong drills and a six-furlong work.
“I always like to train them even if I have to get after them,” said trainer Steve Specht. “I don’t want to start a short horse.”
Song From Above shouldn’t be short heading into her first six-furlong race.
“She should be tough,” said Specht.
“She’s got speed, but the fact she’ll sit off the pace is good. I was a little concerned at Pleasanton about how she’d handle dirt in her face, but Frank said she handled it better than she did the [synthetic] surface at Golden Gate.”
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Song From Above, who will have Alvarado aboard again, will meet the toughest group of her career Sunday.
She’s No Drama comes north after a fast victory at Los Alamitos and has turned in bullet drills at Golden Gate Fields and Santa Rosa since the win. She was ridden out to a 2 1/4-length win and earned a 66 Beyer.
Little Doe, Pampered Jo, Shylock Eddie, and Assemble each enters off a maiden win, and Blue Temptress was the third by a head in a four-way photo in Assemble’s win.
In the Jess Jackson, trainer Billy Morey is holding a pair of aces in Artie B Good and Jacks Masterpiece, who won his debut and then ran third to Kimberlea K in the Everett Nevin Stakes at Pleasanton.
Artie B Good was far back early in his July 16 debut at Sacramento before making a bold move inside and pulling away to win by two lengths in the best race of the year by a Northern California colt. He covered the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:03.64 and earned a 67 Beyer.
“Horses had been avoiding the inside there, but there was a big hole, and he took advantage of it,” said Morey. “I don’t know if the track was fast that day, but that was a good time.”
Alvarado, who rode Artie B Good in his debut, has the mount again.
Jacks Masterpiece won a maiden race by 4 1/2 lengths at Pleasanton and came back two weeks later in the Everett Nevin, finishing 2 3/4 lengths behind Kimberlea K.
“He’s a big, strong horse,” said Morey.
Rounding out the field are Walk On Water, Irish Sky, Holy Yodeler, Byebye Mr Swiss, and Mesa Jones.