Razo hopes to make most of second BC start

STICKNEY, Ill. - Eddie Razo's name doesn't take up much space in the Breeders' Cup 2007 media guide. There he is, in the list of every jockey ever to ride in the event, the eighth-place finisher aboard Black Tie Affair in the 1989 Sprint.

But Razo, 41, is Breeders' Cup-bound for the second time, and from the feeling Miss Macy Sue gave him Friday morning, he'll be in the inaugural Filly and Mare Sprint with a live horse.

Hawthorne's main track has been deep and slow throughout this meet, especially in the morning, when a really good five-furlong work goes in a minute. Friday, working without company, Miss Macy Sue and Razo sped through five furlongs in 58.40 seconds. The next-fastest work at the distance was 1.80 seconds slower.

"The last couple times I worked her, I didn't want her to do too much," Razo said. "Today, [trainer Kelly Von Hemel] said you've got to let her work a little bit. She needed a good work for the race. I just let her do her thing - she was pretty comfortable."

Fast works are nothing new for Miss Macy Sue: The first time Razo worked her, this summer at Arlington, she went five furlongs in 56 seconds and change. But Miss Macy Sue has been running to her morning works this season, and her most recent victory, a sharp win in the $400,000 Presque Isle Masters, stamps her as a legitimate Breeders' Cup contender.

Razo recalls a chaotic scrum leaving the gate in the 1989 Sprint, and figures on the same kind of madhouse again this year. But he's ready for it, and is grateful for a shot under brighter lights than Hawthorne.

"Riding in these kind of races, they give you a shot to get a little push in your business," Razo said.

In fact, business was surprisingly slow over the summer. Razo spent his first winter at Oaklawn Park and did quite well; his 36 wins were good for fifth in the standings. But at Arlington, Razo's bread-and-butter meet, he won just 38 races from 357 chances.

"I was working really hard, you know, and I think that all it was is the people I was working for, they had a lot of babies, a lot of horses that didn't run," Razo said. "Nothing really went right, but I'll keep working for these guys, and hopefully next year we'll have a better meet."

Razo said he'll fly east the Monday before the Breeders' Cup to give Miss Macy Sue a final Monmouth blowout before her race. After his brief New Jersey stint, it's back to Hawthorne until mid-December, on to his native Mexico for a winter holiday, then back for his second Oaklawn meet.

Pretty Jenny responds on dirt

Arlington is the major meet of the season for trainer Christine Janks, but some of her horses clearly are happy to have moved over to Hawthorne. Chillin Villain struggled all summer on Polytrack before scoring a sharp allowance race win here, and Wednesday, Pretty Jenny turned her form completely around with a six-length win in the Strate Sunshine, a $45,000 overnight stakes that should have her set up for Hawthorne's Illinois-bred stakes card on Nov. 3.

Pretty Jenny, a prolific winner throughout her career, had been shut out in 2007 before her fast victory (six furlongs on a dead track in 1:10.29) this week. Janks figured Pretty Jenny would bounce back returning to dirt, and was gratified to see her hopes fulfilled.

"You know, you think she doesn't like the Poly, but you're wondering if you're deluding yourself and making excuses," she said. "I was really happy it was the racetrack and not the horse."

Janks, as usual, should have a large contingent to run in the Nov. 3 stakes. Besides Pretty Jenny for the Powerless, Janks has Big Rushlet, who finished second this week in a Keeneland allowance, for the Buck's Boy; Mighty Rule and High Expectations for the Lightning Jet; and Stop a Train for the Illini Princess.

* Sunday's nominal feature is race 7, an entry-level allowance carded for 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt. The pick is Righteous Cat, who leaves the claiming ranks two starts after being haltered for a $32,500 tag at Arlington, and whose five-furlong work in 1:01.20 last Sunday was the fastest of 46 drills at the distance.