Miss Missile targets Debutante despite loss

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Lone Star Park track-record-holder Miss Missile suffered her first career defeat Saturday when a troubled fourth in the Texas Thoroughbred Association Sales Futurity, but the loss will not change long-held plans to test her in graded stakes company.

Charlie Smith, who owns and trains Miss Missile, said she is scheduled to start next in the Grade 3, $100,000 Debutante at Churchill Downs on Julyo7.

"I think we'd be overreacting if we didn't give her the shot," he said. "She came back really good, and I still think we have not seen her best race, so we're really not going to change our plan.

"Had we won, we were going to go on and give her a shot at Churchill. [But] it's pretty hard to fault her. I mean, she still has a track record and she still has hung an 88 Beyer [Speed Figure], and so I think that's what we're going to do. We're going to give her a shot."

Miss Missile set a track record for 4 1/2 furlongs April 20, when she won her debut in 51 seconds. One start later, Miss Missile posted a Beyer of 88 for turning in the fastest qualifying time for the $93,530 fillies division of the Sales Futurity. She won in the slop, covering the five furlongs in 58.60 seconds. It was a length back in second to the eventual Sales Futurity winner, Maileys Cat.

In the finale, Miss Missile finished four lengths behind Maileys Cat following an uncomfortable rail trip. Smith noted that she was forced to check going into the turn of the five-furlong race. From there, Miss Missile was boxed in for a long time.

"She really didn't get back into her stride until about the sixteenth pole," he said. "We were all disappointed we didn't win, but that's just racing. Sometimes you get the trip, sometimes you don't."

Fall return for Maileys Cat

Maileys Cat, who won her maiden in the Sales Futurity, will be turned out for a few months, said her trainer, Bret Calhoun. He looks for her to return in late fall.

"We're going to give her some time off," he said. "We're going to rest her a little bit. She had a couple of minor 2-year-old things going on, and we felt like she had run a couple of hard races, and we wanted to give her a little time to mature and grow up. So, we're just backing off of her for a little while."

Maileys Cat had an intimidating trip in the Sales Futurity. She was in tight for much of the race before getting to the outside and digging in for a half-length win over pacesetter Valid Lilly.

"It was a really gutty effort on her part," Calhoun said of Maileys Cat. "She was covered up in tight quarters, and she didn't back down at all. She just kept running."

Maileys Cat races for Bobby Beck and Turf Express.

* Wishingitwas comes into the featured ninth race Friday night off a strong recent race, and with the field's best last-out turf Beyer. He is one of eight horses in the 1 1/16-mile allowance race. Also in the field is Trial by Jury, who last year won the Grade 3, $200,000 Dallas Turf Cup. Wishingitwas made his last start on May 12, running third over yielding turf in a 7 1/2-furlong allowance prep for this year's Dallas Turf Cup. For his effort, he earned a Beyer Figure of 89. Trainer Bart Evans has given the mount to Larry Taylor.

* Lone Star has had some generous giveaways this meet in celebration of its 10th anniversary, and the next one is on Saturday when the track gives away 12-pack coolers. Earlier this meet, Lone Star gave away folding lawn chairs, glassware, and T-shirts.