Master the Blues seeks to regain form in Kalookan Queen
ARCADIA, Calif. – Master the Blues has won six races this year, ranging from a $25,000 claimer at Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania in June to the Daisycutter Handicap at Del Mar in August.
However, the 5-year-old mare has struggled in recent months, losing twice and leading trainer Bob Hess Jr. to hope for a rebound in the final start of the year for Master the Blues – Sunday’s $75,000 Kalookan Queen Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs for fillies and mares at Santa Anita.
“I want to get her back to her Del Mar form,” Hess said.
The Kalookan Queen Stakes is a prep for the $200,000 Santa Monica Stakes, a Grade 2 for fillies and mares over seven furlongs Jan. 19. The Kalookan Queen drew a field of eight. Master the Blues is one of four stakes winners in the field, along with Awesome Baby, Doinghardtimeagain, and Tribal Gal.
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Key contenders
Master the Blues (Last 3 Beyers: 81-79-87)
* Owned by a partnership, Master the Blues was fourth in an optional claimer over five furlongs on turf Nov. 21 at Del Mar, a race that was not ideal, according to Hess.
“We didn’t get the synthetic race we were looking for,” he said.
* In early September, Master the Blues was eighth in the Grade 2 Presque Isle Masters and was found to have bled in the race, Hess said.
* Tyler Baze will ride Master the Blues in place of regular rider Kent Desormeaux, who is traveling to Japan on Sunday to ride Soi Phet in a stakes there Monday.
Awesome Baby (Last 3 Beyers: 80-82-78)
* Awesome Baby was scratched from Friday’s Grade 1 La Brea Stakes. Trainer Bob Baffert said the Kalookan Queen had greater appeal. Awesome Baby has not raced since winning the Sunland Park Oaks in New Mexico in March.
“I got to looking at that race off a layoff, and it looked like a wicked spot,” Baffert said.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Awesome Baby. Trainer Bob Baffert is 24-9-7-2 with a $4.52 ROI going from route to sprint on dirt following a layoff of 180 days or more.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Global Hottie (Last 3 Beyers: 73-83-81)
* A winner of her last three starts, dating back to November 2013, Global Hottie will make her stakes debut in the Kalookan Queen. She has not raced since winning an optional claimer here Nov. 2, the final day of the autumn meeting.
“I just kind of threw her in there,” Baffert said.
Doinghardtimeagain (Last 3 Beyers: 68-65-NA)
* Doinghardtimeagain is winless in four starts since the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs at Los Alamitos in July. A five-time stakes winner who has earned $721,886, Doinghardtimeagain was third in the Zia Distaff Stakes over six furlongs Nov. 26 in New Mexico, closing from last in a field of eight.
“She got farther behind, which we didn’t expect,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said. “The track was a little speed biased that day.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 8 Tribal Gal. Trainer Kory Owens is 29-11-2-6 with a $3.07 ROI over the past five years going synthetic to dirt in sprints. - Mike HoganClick for more details. – Mike Hogan
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