Puntsville likely to run away from Isaac Murphy field

Puntsville figures to be an odds-on favorite to win the $50,000 Isaac Murphy Stakes for the second year in a row Saturday at Arlington.

The Isaac Murphy, for older Illinois-bred fillies and mares at six furlongs on Polytrack, goes as race 7 of eight and drew eight entrants. If the race unfolds as it appears on paper, seven will be chasing Puntsville, probably to no satisfying end.

Puntsville, generally speaking, is the fastest horse in the Isaac Murphy, and in particular, she is the fastest horse through the first quarter-mile, and by a considerable margin. If she breaks alertly under regular rider Victor Santiago, she’ll open up a clear lead in the first furlong and never look back.

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“I think she’s better now than she ever has been,” trainer Michele Boyce said a few days after Puntsville won her 2017 debut on May 26 at Arlington by six lengths. The numbers back her up: Puntsville got a 94 Beyer Speed Figure for that win, just shy of her career-best 95.

“Victor thinks she’s more relaxed this year,” Boyce said.

Six furlongs sat at the outer limit of Puntsville’s distance range in the past. If she has indeed developed a more rateable style, getting that trip probably no longer is in doubt.

It’s fair to wonder if Puntsville, barely more than two weeks after her comeback win, can duplicate her most recent performance. It’s also fair to wonder if she’ll need to.

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