Princess of Palms draws ‘em from near and far
PHOENIX – They have come from all directions – Canterbury, Boise, Kentucky Downs, Santa Anita, Los Alamitos, and Arapahoe – to go at it in Saturday’s $35,000 Princess of Palms Stakes at Turf Paradise. The six-furlong event for fillies and mares drew a field of eight.
Possible favorites in a contentious field include Be Proud, a stakes winner at Canterbury this summer, and Winning Vision, coming off an optional-claiming win at Los Alamitos.
Be Proud, owned by Hal and Patti Earnhardt and trained by Dan McFarlane, has ample speed. She pressed the pace before taking over in the Hoist Her Flag on dirt at this distance at Canterbury Park on Aug. 9. She then shipped to Kentucky Downs for a turf-sprint stakes Sept. 14, pressing the pace before finishing fifth.
Be Proud is back to her preferred surface of dirt here. Geovanni Franco rides.
Winning Vision, owned by C J Racing LLC and trained by Molly Pearson, comes here sharp, having run second at Del Mar on Aug. 12 before proving an easy winner at Los Alamitos on Sept. 20. Scott Stevens rides.
Always a Chance won at Del Mar on Aug. 20 and ran second there Sept. 13. She then rallied well for third in a $20,000 claimer at Santa Anita on Oct. 9 and was claimed by trainer Robertino Diodoro for owner Charles Garvey.
PRINCESS OF PALMS (RACE 6)
KEY CONTENDERS
Be Proud (Last 3 Beyers: 83-81-81)
◗ She was once good enough to warrant a graded stakes try, finishing fifth in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel at Santa Anita in March 2014.
◗ She dueled for the lead and ran second at this distance the last time she raced here March 24.
◗ Has put in two strong recent works here: a bullet three furlongs in 35 seconds and a five-furlong move in 59.20.
Winning Vision (Last 3 Beyers: 80-78-50)
◗ She’s won twice in four local starts. Her Sept. 20 win was flattered when third-place finisher Stealth the Drone came back to win at Santa Anita last weekend.
Always a Chance (Last 3 Beyers: 79-62-84)
◗ Does her best running in the lane, and there appears to be enough speed signed up to result in a fast pace.
◗ Goes first time off the claim for Diodoro, who has been winning 26 percent of the time in such situations.