More reasonable spot for Access Fee
Stretching out to seven furlongs and stepping up to a Grade 2 stakes in the Barbara Fritchie Handicap proved a little bit too much for Access Fee. Given her love for Laurel Park and her prowess at six furlongs, Access Fee looks like a much better fit in Saturday's $50,000 Primonetta Stakes.
A 4-year-old filly trained by Larry Murray, Access Fee will face eight fillies and mares in the six-furlong Primonetta. She owns a 4-for-5 record locally, and is 2 for 3 going six furlongs, including a 4 3/4-length score over one of her key rivals Saturday, All Giving, in the What a Summer nearly two months ago.
Access Fee has been off since pressing the pace and fading in the Barbara Fritchie on Feb. 14.
Although Access Fee certainly appears formidable, one pertinent statistic gleaned from DRF's Formulator indicates she could be vulnerable. Murray is just 1 for 11 with fillies and mare sprinters returning from a layoff of 31 to 60 days.
Based on Formulator stats, the horse to fear is What Time It Is. Notably, What Time It Is comes back 13 days after a wire-to-wire win over high-priced optional claimers at Philadelphia Park. Her trainer, Mike Trombetta, is 18 for 35 (51 percent) with sprinters who finished in the money last time out returning in less than two weeks.
What Time It Is was beaten more than 10 lengths by Access Fee in November, but may have needed that race following a seven-month layoff.
Others who show at least one race close to the Beyer par of 96 for the Primonetta are the Philadelphia Park-based trio of Cammy's Choice, Fancy Diamond, and Jet Away Jane.
Cammy's Choice won back-to-back fast sprints from off the pace last fall, but has lost at short odds in a pair of stakes restricted to New York-breds this season while running much slower Beyer Figures.
Fancy Diamond upset Maryland-breds in last month's Conniver as the lone speed, but she doesn't project to get the same kind of uncontested lead here.
Most of Jet Away Jane's best races have come against Pennsylvania-breds.