Jump On In can take over division

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The brilliantly fast Jump On In will be favored to stabilize the 2-year-old filly division, and restore her reputation, in the $100,000 Moccasin Stakes on Sunday at Hollywood Park.

Eight entered the seven-furlong stakes, and if front-runner Jump On In is not the surest winner on the card, she is the one to catch. Trained by John Sadler, Jump On In won her Aug. 6 debut with a soaring 98 Beyer Figure, then bombed one month later in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante.

Her career mirrors the chaotic filly division: Win today, gone tomorrow. No major California stakes winner (Pinata, Untouched Talent, Point Ashley, and Cash Included) has won since her stakes win. Sunday in the Moccasin, Jump On In gets a shot at redemption after finishing fifth in the Del Mar Debutante.

Jump On In had an excuse, according to her trainer.

"She grabbed her quarter that day, the training was less than ideal, and she might have bounced a little bit," Sadler said. "Things just didn't go right for her."

Jump On In regrouped, but a week before her scheduled comeback Oct. 21 she spiked a fever. She was on hold again, though not for long. Jump On In has trained well, and is ready to fire.

"Her last couple works have been real good," Sadler said.

Jump On In, who is owned by Lee and Susan Searing, will be ridden by Corey Nakatani. If she gets seven furlongs, the daughter of Jump Start may point to the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 17. How far can she run?

"We don't know yet," Sadler said. "We need to see a little more."

The Moccasin field includes Grade 1-placed Quick Little Miss; Anoakia Stakes winner Berriestoheaven and runner-up Tizthen; and English import Market Day, who is 3 for 4 on artificial surfaces. Kissin Party, Company Secret, and High Cholesterol also entered.

Quick Little Miss is running back just 15 days after finishing 10th in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

"She was out wide, and the number ones were tearing us up all day," trainer Mel Stute said. "I just threw the race out."

Quick Little Miss worked a fast half-mile since returning home, and based on her last-to-first win in a stakes at Fairplex Park, she might be better as a late-running sprinter anyway.

The past 14 years, every Moccasin winner had previously earned a Beyer of 80 or higher. The only three that qualify this year are Jump On In, Quick Little Miss, and Tizthen.