A Little Bit Sassy looks to regain form in Dahlia
As 3-year-olds last summer, A Little Bit Sassy and Istanford established themselves as Grade 2-caliber turf fillies. Despite last-race running lines that look ugly, both A Little Bit Sassy and Istanford merit respect while facing softer company in the $100,000 Dahlia, one of six stakes Saturday at Pimlico.
The Dahlia, which goes as race 8 on a 10-race program that includes the Federico Tesio for 3-year-olds, drew a field of 13 fillies and mares going a mile on turf.
Trained by Michael Matz, A Little Bit Sassy finished first in the Grade 3 Regret at Churchill Downs but was disqualified and placed fourth. She followed up by missing by a head in the Grade 2 Lake George at Saratoga. Her form went sour in three subsequent starts, all at the Grade 2 level, during the fall. The Dahlia will be her first start since she was a distant 10th in the Mrs. Revere last November.
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For her comeback, A Little Bit Sassy will race on Lasix for the first time. Matz shows a 2-for-8 record with horses returning from a break of 61 to 180 days in a non-graded stakes going long on turf.
Istanford, the runner-up to A Little Bit Sassy in the listed Edgewood Stakes at Churchill last May and 4 1/2 lengths behind that rival in the Regret, won the Grade 3 Arlington Classic and Grade 2 San Clemente at Del Mar. She began her 2015 campaign with an encouraging second in the Bayou at Fair Grounds but stopped badly after leading for six furlongs in the Grade 2 Honey Fox at Gulfstream last time out.
On the bright side, trainer Mike Stidham is 4 for 11 (36 percent) with horses like Istanford making the third start of their form cycle in a turf route.
Among the others, the most difficult to gauge might be the French import Lily Carstairs. She won 2 of 10 starts on grass, mostly racing at minor tracks in France, and makes her first start for Niall Saville, who shows a 2-for-7 record (57 percent in the money), with a high $5.54 return on investment, with foreign shippers making their initial start following a break of 61 to 180 days.
Elsewhere on the undercard
** Chamois, beaten only a length while making his first start following a six-month layoff in last May’s Grade 2 Dixie, returns from 10 months on the sidelines in the $100,000 Henry Clark at one mile on turf (race 10). His 13 rivals include Special Envoy, a winner of his first two starts this season at Tampa Bay Downs; Roadhog, beaten a head in last year’s Clark and an eight-time winner on turf; and Talk Show Man, the winner of last fall’s one-mile Maryland Million Turf.
** The Kiaran McLaughlin-trained Sustainable, who cleared her first allowance condition at Aqueduct last month, and Wherethere’sfire, who romped by 10 lengths in a second-level optional $25,000 claimer at Penn National, bring sharp recent form into the $100,000 Primonetta, a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares (race 7).
** Lady Shipman, unbeaten in three starts on turf and synthetic, winning each race by wide margins, looks formidable in the $100,000 Stormy Blues, a five-furlong turf sprint for 3-year-old fillies (race 6).
** Eddy Gourmet, 2 for 2 since blinkers were added to her equipment, and Brenda’s Way, a dominant winner going a one-turn mile last time out, are the prime contenders in the $75,000 Geisha, a 1 1/16-mile dirt race for Maryland-bred fillies and mares (race 4).