Kitten's Roar seeks to add to riches in Suwannee River

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It takes only a quick glance at the 2017 earning reports to know who is the horse to beat in Saturday’s $150,000 Suwannee River at Gulfstream Park.

Kitten’s Roar earned owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey nearly $564,000 in 2017, easily the best of the nine filly and mare turf specialists entered in the Grade 3 Suwannee River. Dream Dancing is next on the list with $327,000 in winnings during her 3-year-old campaign, far and away second best in the field.

Kitten’s Roar picked up a major portion of her money with her come-from-behind 2 1/4-length triumph in the Grade 2 Goldikova on Breeders’ Cup weekend at Del Mar. The win was one of three on the year for the daughter of Kitten’s Joy, who also finished second in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor, fourth in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley, and fifth in the Grade 1 Beverly D.

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Kitten’s Roar has not started since her eighth-place finish in the Grade 1 Matriarch, also at Del Mar, on Nov. 26.

“We just wanted to freshen her up a little bit,” trainer Mike Maker said. “She had a hard campaign and we wanted to give her a little bit of time. She showed up every time we ran her. She ran into some tough ones and she got unlucky to lose a couple, but overall it was a nice year.”

The Suwannee River will mark only the third time Kitten’s Roar has competed at 1 1/8 miles. She was second in both previous starts at the distance.

“She’s run well at a mile and eighth in the past and I have no reason to think she won’t again,” Maker said. “I think if she can get a stalking position I think that’s more favorable for her. She’s very professional and you can place her wherever you need her.”

Kitten’s Roar will have no shortage of contenders to fend off, including Dream Dancing and the Chad Brown-trained pair of Dream Awhile and Elysea’s World.

Dream Dancing, who won last summer’s Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, seeks to make amends after finishing second behind Ultra Brat as the 8-5 choice making her first start against older females in last month’s Grade 3 Marshua’s River. The late-running Dream Dancing was compromised in the 1 1/16-mile Marshua’s River by the lack of pace.

Dream Awhile began her career in France before joining Brown’s barn late last summer, and wasted little time becoming a stakes winner in this country by rallying to a three-quarter-length decision over Westit in the Tropical Park Oaks here earlier in the meet.

Elysea’s World gives Brown a solid one-two punch while attempting to snap a nine-race losing streak that dates back to her second-place finish in the 2017 Suwannee River. She was graded stakes-placed six times during that streak, including in her most recent start when beaten a half-length by longshot Midnight Crossing in the Grade 3 Robert J. Frankel Stakes at Santa Anita.

Ultra Brat benefitted from a perfect ground-saving trip to defeat Dream Dancing in the Marshua’s River for her first graded stakes win. She figures to be forwardly placed again with not much speed signed on for the Suwannee River.

Trainer Richard Baltas has shipped Midnight Crossing from her Southern California base, attempting to prove her wire-to-wire victory over Elysea’s World as a 22-1 longshot in the frankel was no fluke.