Princess Kennedy gets ideal distance in By the Light
The connections of Princess Kennedy have been shopping for the right spot for the 3-year-old filly and have landed on Friday night’s $75,000 By the Light at Delta Downs. The seven-furlong race drew nine, including the stakes winners Go No Go, Another Bond Girl, and Flashy Appeal.
Princess Kennedy, who also is a stakes winner, is invading from Fair Grounds, where she was considered for the Silverbulletday Stakes.
“We were looking at the race here at the Fair Grounds, and it’s going a mile and a sixteenth,” said Michael Stidham, who trains Princess Kennedy for David Thorner. “This race is seven-eighths, and we thought it’s really right where she needs to be.”
By the Light, Race 8
KEY CONTENDERS
Princess Kennedy (Last 3 Beyers: 61-59-63)
◗ Princess Kennedy is moving back to two turns for the By the Light following a runner-up finish in the $50,000 Letellier Memorial, a six-furlong race Dec. 19 at Fair Grounds.
“I think more than the two turns, the seven-eighths really fits her well, that distance,” Stidham said. “The other day here at the Fair Grounds, she was stuck down on the inside, and she got out kind of late and was coming at the end. But I think the six furlongs, especially with trouble, was a little bit short for her. I think the seven-eighths is going to fit her perfect.”
◗ Princess Kennedy became a stakes winner in August, rolling by 8 3/4 lengths in the $49,000 Barbara Shinpoch, a 6 1/2-furlong race at Emerald Downs.
◗ Jose Valdivia Jr. has the mount from post 6.
“Looking at her form, you can see where she’s been up close in some of those sprints, then in a couple of them was further back,” Stidham said. “I think she can do either. It depends on how hot a pace it is and how she breaks.”
Go No Go (Last 3 Beyers: 68-58-51)
◗ A winner of three of five starts, she owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure, a 68. The number was put up in the $100,000 Trapeze, a race in which she finished seventh Dec. 13 at Remington Park. My Master Plan remained undefeated with her win in the race and covered the mile quicker than males did one race later in the $250,000 Springboard Mile.
Areolite (Last 3 Beyers: 66-49-34)
◗ She showed promise early on when third in the $100,000 Debutante last June at Churchill Downs. More recently, she was edged by a neck in an optional $75,000 claiming race at a mile Nov. 27 at Remington Park.