Lady Sabelia hard to oppose in Willa On the Move
The 5-year-old mare Lady Sabelia, who returned from 5 1/2 months on the sidelines to run the fastest race of her 17-race career, will be formidable when she defends her title in the six-furlong Willa On the Move, one of three $100,000 stakes on Saturday’s program at Laurel Park.
Lady Sabelia is 7 for 10 over the past two seasons, including a victory in the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie Handicap at Laurel in February. She displayed a new dimension in the six-furlong Pumpkin Pie on Nov. 1 at Belmont Park, coming from off the pace to romp by 7 1/4 lengths. She earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure, two points higher than her number for the seven-furlong Barbara Fritchie.
“We just didn’t want her to get too rapid,” trainer Robin Graham said of the change in tactics. “When she gets in front and they’re behind her, she gets competitive and gets too rapid. But if you can work around that, everything’s good.”
Lady Sabelia’s most dangerous challenger in the eight-horse field of filles and mares may be Galiana, a 5-year-old mare who has won 11 races over the past two seasons. Galiana beat Lady Sabelia by 2 3/4 lengths in the Skipat at Pimlico on the Preakness undercard, but her form has declined in two starts this fall: a baffling 10th-place finish as the even-money favorite in a $7,500 starter allowance at Laurel and a third in the Fabulous Strike at Penn National last month.
Willa On the Move, Race 9
KEY CONTENDERS
Lady Sabelia (Last 3 Beyers: 101-82-58)
◗ Even if she regresses slightly from her comeback performance, Lady Sabelia looks much faster than her opponents. Hard to go against her in this spot.
Galiana (Last 3 Beyers: 78-71-95)
◗ She ran better last time against males in the Fabulous Strike at Penn National than she did in the starter allowance, but she would need to move forward substantially to regain the form she displayed winning four stakes between April and mid-September.
Dulcify (Last 3 Beyers: 84-78-62)
◗ This 4-year-old filly has won two in a row since she was claimed for $25,000 in September by trainer Kieron Magee, who’s winning at a 28 percent clip at the Laurel fall meet. Steps up to stakes company for the first time while making her 20th start.
In the other stakes:
◗ Cathryn Sophia heads seven 2-year-old fillies going seven furlongs in the Gin Talking. She earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure, the second-fastest six-furlong race by a 2-year-old filly this season, in winning her career debut by nearly 13 lengths,
◗ Never Gone South, second in a fast running of the James Lewis Stakes on Nov. 14, and Vorticity, wire-to-wire winner of a swift maiden race at Aqueduct, are the prime players among seven 2-year-olds in the seven-furlong Marylander.