Rock and Glory needs better trip in City of Edmonton Distaff

There are eight fillies and mares entered in the $75,000 City of Edmonton Distaff at Northlands Park on Friday night, but the battle is between Smile Again Theta and Rock and Glory. The 1 1/16-mile race headlines a seven-race card that begins at 6:30 p.m. Mountain.

Trained by Robertino Diodoro, Rock and Glory dominated her first two races at Northlands. With leading rider Rico Walcott aboard, she waltzed to a 3 1/2-length win going six furlongs May 16 in the Wild Rose Handicap and crushed her opposition by 8 3/4 lengths in the one-mile John Patrick Handicap.

It seemed a foregone conclusion that she would have little trouble in winning the Madamoiselle Handicap on July 17, but things changed in a hurry when she broke a step slowly and ended up three wide around the first two turns.

“I knew she was in trouble a hundred yards into the race,” said Diodoro. “She wants to freewheel, and I could see she wasn’t happy with Rico trying to rate her.”

Instead of Rock and Glory romping as expected, Tony Maragh put Smile Again Theta on the lead, and she kept rolling over a track rated good to win by the length of the stretch. The official margin was 19 1/4 lengths over Holiday Babe.

Trainer Jerri Robertson gave a lot of credit to the wet conditions for Smile Again Theta’s career-best performance. It was the first stakes win in 42 starts for the 7-year-old daughter of Smile Again, and in her previous race, she was more than 14 lengths behind Rock and Glory when she finished third in the John Patrick.

“She just loves a wet track, and it was perfect for her,” said Robertson. “We have already started doing a rain dance for Friday.”

Key contenders

Rock and Glory (Last 3 Beyers: 43-79-66)

* She worked a sharp four furlongs in 45.80 seconds Aug. 7, and according to Diodoro, “She did it easily.”

* Toss her race in the Madamoiselle, in which she was compromised by a poor start, and she is clearly the one to beat.

Smile Again Theta (Last 3 Beyers: 78-53-44)

* She came back with a sharp work following her blowout win in the Madamoiselle and is a serious threat to repeat if it comes up wet.

Brady’s Tomboy (Last 3 Beyers: 56-55-60)

* She appears to be coming around, and last fall, she reeled off back-to-back wins going 1 1/16 miles in the Fall Classic Distaff and Duchess of York for trainer Dale Saunders.