'Kaylee' gets another try at condition

CHICAGO - Getcozywithkaylee had been running in third-level allowance races when she was dropped into a $50,000 claimer on July 8 at Arlington. Trainer Dave Kassen and one of his owners, the Butterfly Stable, reached in and took her.

The thinking behind the claim had as much to do with the results of a laboratory test as with Getcozywithkaylee's performances on the racetrack. had tested positive for an illegal race-day medication and eventually was disqualified from a victory in a second-level allowance race last Dec. 19 at Hawthorne. So what Kassen and Butterfly were getting was a competitive third-level allowance horse who could go back and knock out her second allowance condition.

"That was a big part of why we claimed her," Kassen said last week.

Getcozywithkaylee lost in her first try after the claim Aug. 26, but finished second to a sharp winner. She returns Wednesday in Arlington's featured eighth race, a second-level allowance at six furlongs on dirt.

A couple of minor issues. First, Getcozywithkaylee is a Hawthorne Race Course specialist. She has won once at Arlington, but ran off three straight victories on the other side of town last fall and could be best meant for a race later this fall at Hawthorne. Second, one of the eight fillies entered in the Wednesday feature is , and there might be no catching her this time.

Trained for her first four starts by Kelly Von Hemel, G G's Dolly now resides in the Arlington barn of Von Hemel's father, Don. More important, she returns to dirt racing after a failed turf experiment July 16 at Ellis Park. Before that dismal defeat, G G's Dolly had won a maiden race at Prairie Meadows by more than two lengths and an entry-level allowance there by five. Her display of early speed in that entry-level allowance was impressive, and G G's Dolly has been working extremely fast for her first start in two months. With little other early speed entered, she could make a clear lead and sail to victory.

Or, G G's Dolly could come back to the others in the stretch. Getcozywithkaylee figures to be coming, and so might Marina Light, a sharp entry-level allowance winner here about three weeks ago. Weatherwise also climbs the allowance ladder after a convincing win, and Pentelicus Dance finished only a neck behind Getcozywithkaylee when they met Aug. 26.