Seeking the Light seeks clean trip in Barbara Shinpoch Stakes
With the absence of Ethan’s Baby, Sunday’s $50,000 Barbara Shinpoch for 2-year-old fillies should be a wide-open race.
Sore shins have sidelined Ethan’s Baby, who won her first two starts by a combined 11 3/4 lengths and might have been almost as big a favorite as 1-9 morning-line pick Trackattacker in Saturday’s WTBOA Lads.
Young fillies can improve overnight, so it will be interesting to see who can take a step forward. Three fillies are coming off their best starts. Three are making their second starts. Two ran big in their debuts only to regress in their second starts, but they had the two highest Beyer Speed Figures in the field in those debuts.
KEY CONTENDERS
Seeking the Light (Last 2 Beyers: 26-57)
◗ The daughter of Santa Anita Handicap winner Heatseeker has the highest Beyer in the field with a 57 in her debut, higher than either of Ethan’s Baby’s. She was the second choice to 11-10 favorite Ethan’s Baby in the Angie C. Stakes at 13-10. She got off a bit slowly from the rail in the stakes race and then had to steady early as she sat last. She had set the pace with fractions of 21.57 and 44.31 seconds in her debut.
◗ She was also bumped late in the Angie C. but finished evenly to be third. She gets off the rail and figures to run much better after that troubled trip. Note that fast five-furlong drill in 58.80 seconds last week that hints at her readiness for this.
Pippa Bou Peep (Last 3 Beyers: 40-34-32)
◗ She’s still a maiden, but she hooked Ethan’s Baby in both of that filly’s starts. She has hit the board in all four career starts, improving her Beyer each time. She ran evenly behind Ethan’s Baby last time and was 5 1/4 lengths in front of third-place finisher Seeking the Light.
◗ She doesn’t have much early foot and did draw the rail, but she’ll appreciate the longer distance. She finishes evenly but hasn’t really been a factor yet in the lane. She’s by a productive dam whose first four foals are all winners.
Boss Lori (Last 2 Beyers: 24-52)
◗ She ran second behind an even-money choice when meeting males in her debut in the Chris Christian Futurity in Boise. The winner of the race, also a filly, came back to be a solid second behind the highly regarded Seduire in a Northern California stakes. She sat just behind Ethan’s Baby in the Angie C. but faded badly in the lane. With her outside draw, she could set the pace here under David Lopez, Ethan’s Baby’s regular rider. She breezed six furlongs in 1:12.20, which should have her legged up for this.