Peery high on his filly in stakes

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Sunday's $60,000-added Courtship Stakes at Bay Meadows appears to be anything but a walkover.

The 5 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies attracted six runners. Often, 2-year-old races seem to have one standout, but the Courtship has a contentious field.

From the rail out, the runners are Tracmac, Tale of a Dream, Global Finance, Western Dame, Slewby's Secret, and She'sgotthekey.

Global Finance won the Nursery Stakes at Hollywood Park on May 11. She will be making her first start since a disappointing last-place finish in the Cinderella Stakes at Hollywood Park on June 2.

Slewby's Secret is an Idaho stakes winner, while Tale of a Dream was an impressive winner in her debut on Aug. 18 at the Bay Meadows Fair.

But Chuck Peery, trainer of She'sgotthekey, wouldn't trade places with any of his rivals.

"I really like the filly, first of all," Peery said.

Perry said the filly's breeding is "very similar" to multiple stakes winner Slewsbox.

"I saw pictures of her and really liked her. I sent a vet to check her, and he said she looked okay."

Peery didn't start She'sgotthekey for the first time until Aug. 4 in a tough heat at Santa Rosa. She'sgotthekey ran third behind another talented first-timer, Top Cappelletti, after breaking slowly.

"She got shuffled back, but she kept trying," Peery said. "She caught a first-time starter who is a pretty decent filly."

She'sgotthekey broke a little better in her second start at Sacramento. She was shuffled back a little on the turn but again finished well, gamely holding off the fast-finishing Shasta Cat in a fast 1:03.80 for 5 1/2 furlongs.

The race impressed Peery, although the final time had nothing to do with it.

"It was just the way she did it," Peery said, noting that horses "were running awfully fast" that day: "The same day, 2-year-old colts ran 1:03.10 for the first condition."

Peery said he was "sure not discouraged" by She'sgotthekey's time, but at the same time, "I'm not overly excited by it."

Slewsbox is strictly a sprinter, but Peery hopes She'sgotthekey will enjoy two turns.

"She's a long-striding filly," he said. "I think she'll be better the farther on she goes."

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