No cakewalk in Barretts Debutante

POMONA, Calif. - The $120,000 Barretts Debutante on Saturday at Fairplex Park was going to be a nice, quiet little stakes with minimal ramifications. Forget that idea.

Instead of easy pickings for romping debut winner Catch My Fancy, Grade 3 runner-up Acceleration, or streaking front-runner Sugar Deputy, the Barretts Debutante shapes up as a tough race filled with speed. A 6 1/2-furlong race, the Barretts Debutante is restricted to fillies offered at a Barretts sale.

scored one of the fastest wins of the summer in her Aug. 28 debut. She dueled through quick fractions, ran away from her rivals in the lane, and won by five lengths with a Beyer Speed Figure of 88. Not bad for a first-time starter at Del Mar.

"It was one of the better races down there for 2-year-olds," said trainer Craig Dollase. The speed figure Catch My Fancy earned was graded-stakes caliber, which Dollase said is "our objective after this race. This gives her a chance to get some seasoning before we take on the big girls." A small, nimble filly, Catch My Fancy will be ridden by Garrett Gomez.

is not as fast as Catch My Fancy, but she has an edge in experience. Trained by Jeff Mullins, Acceleration finished second in the Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar in her fifth start, then got sick and missed the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante.

"It wasn't anything serious, but she got a little fever and we lost enough time that we couldn't come back in the Debutante," Mullins said. "I think she would have got a piece of it."

Wild Fit, whom Mullins trains, won the Del Mar Debutante.

Mullins said Acceleration is ready to fire in her first start in six weeks, and a three-furlong workout here in 35 seconds Tuesday shows she handles the turns. "She loves it here," Mullins said.

Acceleration worked in blinkers and adds them Saturday, as Mullins hopes she will be "a little closer" to the pace. Martin Pedroza rides Acceleration.

was claimed for $40,000 off a seven-length maiden win July 4. In her first start for trainer Mike Mitchell, she won a maiden-40 starter allowance going gate to wire. Omar Figueroa will ride Sugar Deputy.

Calamity June is pure speed and comes off an eighth-place finish in the Del Mar Debutante. Win or lose, she will keep Catch My Fancy up front in a race that actually sets up for Acceleration, who runs from off the pace.

Others in the field are Poca Nota, Alberta Whiz, Cedar Fever, Itty Bitty Pretty, and Tippy Toe Terri.