Rock and Glory stands out in Wild Rose Handicap

Rock and Glory has never won sprinting, will be running on a bullring for the first time, and is coming off a last-place finish on turf as the heavy chalk in the $35,000 Sun City Handicap on Feb. 14 at Turf Paradise. Nonetheless, she is clearly the one to beat and figures to be a short price in the $50,000 Wild Rose Handicap on Saturday at Northlands Park.

The six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares drew eight horses, but if Rock and Glory runs her usual race, she is going to be tough to beat.

Trained by Robertino Diodoro, Rock and Glory routinely earns Beyer Speed Figures in the 80s, and her career best, 91, came once on dirt and once on Cushion Track. The highest Beyer from any of her opponents is the 75 earned by Smile Again Theta for her win in a one-mile, $10,000 claiming race in 2012.

In her race before the Sun City, Rock and Glory scored a front-running win going 1 1/16 miles on the lawn in the $35,000 Glendale Handicap on Jan. 17 at Turf Paradise. She also ran well in three starts on the main track in Arizona, finishing second in back-to-back sprint stakes and second in the one-mile, $35,000 Kachina Handicap.

Diodoro is confident that she won’t have any trouble handling the tight turns at Northlands.

“I wasn’t there for her latest work, but my assistant, Rob Atras, reported she handled the track extremely well,” Diodoro said from Canterbury Park. “She ran into a little problem in her last race, but she is doing great right now.”

Adding to her appeal is the presence of leading rider Rico Walcott, who likely will make use of her good speed after breaking from the rail.

Once you get past Rock and Glory, it’s a wide-open event.

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KEY CONTENDERS

Rock and Glory (Last 3 Beyers: 37-85-83)

◗ Toss out her latest at Turf Paradise three months ago, and she looks like a standout.

DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Over the past five years, Diodoro has an 18 percent strike rate with horses coming back from layoffs of 61 to 180 days.

Time for a Memory (Last 3 Beyers: 63-54-52)

◗ Trained by Tim Rycroft, she will be gunning for her sixth straight win while making her first start as a 4-year-old.

◗ She is versatile. She came from a stalking position to win the $48,860 Sonoma Handicap at Northlands before dueling early and holding on to win the $20,000 Saskatchewan Derby at Marquis Downs in her final start as a 3-year-old.