Loveable Lyss might have excuse for Silverbulletday result

NEW ORLEANS – There were a surprising number of entrants last Friday for the Rachel Alexandra Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, and equally surprising, the nine-horse field might remain intact. Shaken, who won her only start, a sprint, worked well over the weekend, and a decision on whether she’ll start won’t be made until Saturday, trainer Mike Stidham said.

Finley’sluckycharm, who has won two sprints, looked like a candidate to come out of the race, but an allowance in which trainer Bret Calhoun entered her at Oaklawn Park failed to fill, and the filly might end up in the Rachel Alexandra after all, where she would at least be a pace factor.

Venus Valentine, who was fourth in a turf allowance last out, reportedly is a go for the race, and Steve Asmussen confirmed that Royal Obsession will give him a second starter to go with the favored Stageplay, who beat Midnight On Oconee, another Rachel Alexandra Stakes runner, in the Silverbulletday Stakes last month.

Also on track to run is Loveable Lyss, who looked very strong in winning a sprint maiden race and a route allowance in two starts early at this meet but for whom little since has gone right.

Loveable Lyss appeared to resent rating tactics in the Silverbulletday and flattened out to finish fourth after chasing the pace. She came out of the race with a case of the thumps (basically a bad case of the hiccups), though owner-trainer Hugh Robertson wasn’t certain how much that might have compromised the Big Brown filly.

“She wasn’t thumping when she pulled up, but when she got back to the barn, she started thumping,” Robertson said. “It couldn’t have helped.”

Robertson sent Loveable Lyss to Oaklawn to race in the Martha Washington Stakes last weekend, but she scoped with mucus in her upper-respiratory system after a Feb. 3 workout there and came back to Fair Grounds. Robertson worked her a strong five furlongs in 1:00.20 last Friday, and this time, Loveable Lyss scoped clean, after which Robertson entered her in the Rachel Alexandra.

Cisco Torres might give Loveable Lyss freer rein early in Saturday’s race, but she still seems unlikely to make the lead if Finley’sluckycharm stays in.

“It looks like she’ll have to come from off the lead this time,” said Robertson.

And whether Loveable Lyss can race effectively that way remains to be seen.

◗ A pair of first-level, Louisiana-bred, one-mile, dirt allowance races for 3-year-olds – one restricted to fillies, the other open – are the highest-class fare on a nine-race program Thursday.