Miss Kay Dee Raine may want a bit longer

ANCOUVER, British Columbia - Miss Kay Dee Raine improved dramatically in the second half of 2009. If she comes back as good as she left she will be tough to handle in the feature race at Hastings Friday. Post time for the first of 17 Friday evening cards is 7 p.m.

Miss Kay Dee Raine might want more distance than is being offered in the 6 1/2-furlong first-level allowance race for fillies and mares that drew seven horses. Nonetheless, she has been training smartly leading up to her seasonal debut, plus her trainer, Garry Saitz, is off to a great start, with 2 wins from his first 3 starters at the meet.

Miss Kay Dee Raine raced nine times in 2009, and her best finish in her first four races was a fifth in a $25,000 maiden race Aug. 2. She had shown steady improvement, however, and she put it all together in her fifth start, winning a similar race by a length.

It was hard to see her next start coming. Stretching out to 1 1/16 miles for the first time, Miss Kay Dee Raine finished second by a nose to Tierra Del Feugo in the $55,000 Hong Kong Jockey Club. Proving it was no fluke, she came back to finish third in the $122,000 B.C. Oaks.

Ismael Mosqueira rides Miss Kay Dee Raine.

Sedona Miss and Lasting Spice look like the main threats to Miss Kay Dee Raine.

Emerald City is the only stakes winner in the field, and she figures to improve off of her initial start this year, a fifth-place finish in a $75,000 optional race for 3-year-old fillies on May 1.

Sweet N Sour looked sharp winning a maiden special weight race April 25.