Pimlico: Well-traveled 'Lady' tough

Lady of the Future, who has two wins and a near-miss in turf stakes at three different tracks this season, tries to add a victory at Pimlico to her r?sum? in the $50,000 Japan Racing Association Handicap at 1 1/16 miles.

A 6-year-old mare trained by Tom Greene, Lady of the Future, 10 for 33 lifetime with earnings of $496,796, used her strong closing kick to capture the Dr. Penny Memorial at Philadelphia Park and the West Virginia President's Cup at Mountaineer. In between those races, she finished second, beaten a head, in the R.G. Dick at Delaware Park.

"We are hoping to run her a couple more times this year and go over the half-million mark before she goes to the broodmare barn," Greene said. "Obviously she needs pace to run at, but she seldom runs a bad race."

The presence of Sprint Kitten, a turf sprint specialist stretching out beyond 5 1/2 furlongs for the first time since October 2002, and front-runner Feisty Bull, a winner at Delaware in her last start, should assure sufficient early pace to set up Lady of the Future.

Lady of the Future's main rival appears to be the 3-year-old With Affection, who ran well to finish third in her stakes debut, the Grade 3 Martha Washington at Pimlico on Sept. 25.