Lightly raced juvenile fillies very tough to predict

MIAMI - Put a full gate load of relatively inexperienced 2-year-olds together and just about anything can happen, as might be the case when a dozen juvenile fillies go 5 1/2 furlongs in Saturday's $100,000 J j'sdream Stakes at Calder.

The J j'sdream will share top billing with the $30,000-added Primal Handicap, an overnight race for older horses. The Primal surprisingly drew two of the best handicap runners on the grounds, multiple graded stakes winners Hal's Hope and American Halo. The race will be a rematch of the Memorial Day Handicap, in which Hal's Hope defeated American Halo by 4 1/4 lengths, then survived a claim of foul from that rival for alleged interference entering the far turn.

Of the 12 hopefuls in the J j'sdream, three are still maidens while three others, including likely favorites Line of Fire and Wicklow Echo, graduated under a claiming tag.

Wicklow Echo is the only two-time winner in the lineup, having earned her diploma with a $50,000 price tag on her head May 6 at Hialeah before returning five weeks later to easily defeat preliminary allowance company by 4 1/2 lengths in her local debut. That start was also her first under the tutelage of trainer Duke Davis, who has already won this race twice (when it was previously called the Melaleuca Stakes), with Mar Mar in 1986 and U Can Do It in 1995. Eduardo Nunez retains the mount on Wicklow Echo.

Trainer Angel Salinas had to be glad there was no action at the claim box when he ran Line of Fire under a $50,000 claiming tag in her career debut on June 12. Line of Fire would have proved quite a bargain after drawing off to a 12 1/2-length victory while winning with speed to spare and covering five furlongs in 1:00.22.