Miss Missile takes big drop into Genesis

Miss Missile ran one of the best races of her career in defeat last month at Delta Downs. On Friday night, she will return to Delta for the $50,000 Genesis, a seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies that will be run around two turns with a field of 10.

The $50,000 Triple Sec is also on the card.

Miss Missile last raced on Dec. 7, finishing second in the $300,000 Delta Princess. She dueled through quick fractions in that one-mile race, with the opening quarter going in 22.20 seconds and the first half-mile in 46.60. Miss Missile fought on to the stretch, then was overtaken by the winner, By the Light.

"I thought it was an extremely game race," said Charlie Smith, who owns and trains Miss Missile. "She had every right to throw it up and succumb, and she wouldn't do it. She is gritty."

Miss Missile came into the Delta Princess off a 10 3/4-length win in the $100,000 My Trusty Cat at seven furlongs at Delta. She earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 87 for that effort. The race was Miss Missile's first in Vinton, La., and she seemed to showed an affinity for the six-furlong Delta track.

"We train on a six-furlong track at the old Trinity Meadows, and she handled the turns really well," Smith said. "It works well for her, and that sandy track is very similar to what we train on."

Also in the race is Sky Mom, who won the $100,000 Kentucky Cup Juvenile Fillies at Turfway Park in September and could get a nice stalking trip behind Miss Missile.

Others in the race include Eagle's Song and Appenzell, both Fair Grounds shippers from the barn of Larry Jones.

"I think the seven-eighths will really suit Eagle's Song, and I think the two turns will suit Appenzell," Jones said. "She's just loaded with speed, and I think this will slow her down just enough to get her to stretch it on out to seven furlongs.

"They've got two different running styles, so the race has got to set up for one of them."

In the Triple Sec, Prince Cortez, who has won both of his career starts, will make his stakes debut. The seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds also drew Crook's Bodgit, who closed from next-to-last to win the $50,000 Groovy at Sam Houston last out at 51-1.

Gerard Melancon has the mount on Prince Cortez, who is trained by Tom Amoss.