Pretty Greeley steps up to stakes company in Wilma Mankiller

The 6-year-old Pretty Greeley gets just her second shot at stakes company Monday when she runs in the $50,000 Wilma Mankiller at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla.

“She deserves it,” trainer Johnny Ortiz said.

The Wilma Mankiller, a six-furlong race for fillies and mares, launches the meet’s stakes program.

Pretty Greeley is part of a nine-horse field that includes Fiddlers Tsunami, the horse of the meet last year at Will Rogers; Natalie’s Mischief, an allowance winner in December at Remington Park; and Alex’s Bourbon, the third-place finisher in the $100,000 Spring Fever at Oaklawn who was also entered in an allowance there for Sunday.

Wilma Mankiller (Race 9)

KEY CONTENDERS

Pretty Greeley, by Greeley’s Conquest
Last 3 Beyers: 77-77-62

◗ She invades from Oaklawn, where she opened her 6-year-old season with a win in an optional $62,500 claiming race Feb. 10. It was the sixth victory for the mare, who will be looking for her first stakes win Monday.

“She’s gone through all her allowance conditions and we just want to give her a shot to add black type over there in Oklahoma,” Ortiz said Thursday from Oaklawn. “She’s been nothing but a hard-knocking filly for us – very rewarding for a $16,000 claim.”

◗ Pretty Greeley races for Hooties Racing, WSS Racing and 4G Racing.

◗ She enters the Wilma Mankiller off a third-place finish in an optional $62,500 claiming race March 3 at Oaklawn. Mia Mischief, the winner of that race, was making her first start since running ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Pretty Greeley equaled her best Beyer Figure, a 77.

“She tried her very best,” said Ortiz, noting there was a second Breeders’ Cup starter in the field, Kirby’s Penny.

◗ Edgar Morales has the mount on Pretty Greeley from post 4.

“We just want her to sit off the pace, two, three lengths off of it, and come running at them at the end,” Ortiz said. “She seems to have a very good turn of foot down the lane.”

Fiddlers Tsunami, by Seeking a Home
Last 3 Beyers: 58-59-61

◗ She’s run second in back-to-back optional-claiming allowances at Sam Houston, one behind Alex’s Bourbon. The races, run in February, were her first since November.

◗ Bryan McNeil has the mount for Blue Moon Stables and trainer Jody Pruitt.

Natalie’s Mischief, by Into Mischief
Last 3 Beyers: 64-78-75

◗ She returns to Will Rogers, where she is 2 for 3, off a fifth-place finish in an optional $80,000 claiming sprint Feb. 10 at Fair Grounds.

◗ Natalie’s Mischief is out of the mare Miss Natalie, who was a stakes winner at Will Rogers.

◗ Joe Offolter trains Natalie’s Mischief for breeder and owner Gar Oil Corp.