Juvenile stakes has field of 12

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Sunday's $55,000-added Malcolm Anderson Stakes for 2-year-olds running 4 1/2 furlongs at Bay Meadows will offer what has unfortunately becoming a racing rarity in northern California - a full field of 12 in a stakes race.

"Jim Ghidella and the TOC get credit for this," racing secretary Tom Doutrich said. "They really pushed us to have this race." Ghidella is the northern California director of the Thoroughbred Owners of California.

Bay Meadows did not have a 2-year-old stakes race last spring, but with 25 nominations and the full field, the decision to run the race this spring seems to have paid off nicely.

The field includes two first-time starters, and two fillies - Kitty and Boo and stakes-placed Kelly's Princess - who figure to be strong contenders.

"For the first time in some time, the draw and racing luck could be a factor in deciding a race," Doutrich said.

The draw did not help Kelly's Princess, who ran third in the Nursery Stakes at Hollywood Park. She drew the rail in the Hollywood stakes but will break from the outside 12 post on Sunday. She seems to have enough speed to be able to save some ground, though.

Kitty and Boo, who drew post 7 and will be ridden by leading rider Russell Baze, may be the favorite after an impressive win in a $40,000 maiden claimer in her debut at Hollywood Park. Her 76 Beyer from that race is the highest in this field.

"She's real classy," trainer Doug O'Neill said. "She acts more like a 7-year-old gelding than a 2-year-old filly."

O'Neill, who will also run Black Wagner, admits he took a bit of a gamble entering her for a tag in her debut. Owner Jason Wood "is real game and wants to enter aggressively," O'Neill said.

Black Wagner won the year's first 2-year-old race at Golden Gate Fields, then was moved to O'Neill's barn when trainer Terry Gillihan returned to Seattle. He pressed the pace in the Willard Proctor Memorial at Hollywood Park before fading.

"He's trained great, and we're adding blinkers," said O'Neill, who is concerned about his draw in the 11 post.

Whatsthenameman and Cheatinsideoftown were both two-furlong winners at Santa Anita and should be contenders, while Tricky Secret won a two-furlong race in impressive style here and has worked solidly since then.