Sell the Dream goes after elusive stakes win in Campanile
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Four times since September, Sell the Dream has started in turf stakes at a mile in California. Four times, she has been beaten when contending in the stretch, finishing second three times and third once.
A change of venue following a three-month break can end that streak of defeats when Sell the Dream starts in Sunday’s $75,000 Campanile Stakes for statebred 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf at Golden Gate Fields.
The Campanile Stakes will be Sell the Dream’s first start in which she will not be fitted with blinkers. The absence of the equipment could make Sell the Dream more competitive in the stretch.
“She’s been waiting on horses a little bit,” trainer Brian Koriner said.
Koriner saw an example of that when Sell the Dream set the pace in the California Cup Oaks at a mile on turf for statebred 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita in January and was beaten a nose by Grazed My Heart.
“The only jump that filly was in front was at the wire,” Koriner said of Grazed My Heart.
In the Campanile, Sell the Dream starts from the outside post in a field of six. The Campanile is the fifth race on a 10-race program that includes the $75,000 Silky Sullivan Stakes for statebred 3-year-olds at a mile on turf.
Sell the Dream, who races for Edward Brown, Alan Klein, and Philip Lebherz, will be favored in the Campanile, but faces a talented rival in Carole Lombard, the winner of an allowance race at a mile on turf for statebred 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita on March 31.
Sell the Dream is quick enough to lead, but has raced well from a stalking position. Last October, she was second by a half-length in the Grade 3 Surfer Girl Stakes at Santa Anita after racing in third early in the one-mile race.
The lack of a recent start is a slight concern for Koriner, however. Sell the Dream was entered in a allowance race at Santa Anita that did not draw sufficient entries, Koriner said.
“She’s the class of the race,” he said. “She might not be completely tight for a mile. If she can get a nice, relaxed trip, she should be tough.”
Carole Lombard was fifth by 2 1/2 lengths in the California Cup Oaks, but is a different filly now than she was in the winter, trainer Phil D’Amato said.
“I like to think over the last few months my filly has developed and matured,” D’Amato said. “She’s going to need to beat the Koriner horse.”
The Campanile is the stakes debut and first start at a mile on turf for Proof She Zips. She was second against males in an allowance race at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Santa Anita on March 19 in her most recent start.
Silky Sullivan Stakes
There have not been many months in the last year that did not include a start by Mother’s Prayer, a four-time winner who makes his stakes and turf debut in Sunday’s Silky Sullivan.
Trained by Steve Specht for owners and breeders Larry and Marianne Williams, Mother’s Prayer has been particularly consistent this year at Golden Gate Fields, winning two of four starts with close second-place finishes in the losses.
“He’s no superstar, but he tries every time,” Specht said.
Mother’s Prayer was a game second by a nose to Prince Abu Dhabi in a one-mile allowance race against open company on March 31, a race that served as a suitable prep for the Silky Sullivan from Specht’s perspective.
“I think he’s live,” Specht said. “He’s seems as good now as he’s ever been. You don’t know what he’ll do on turf.”
Assael Espinoza, the leading rider at the meeting, rides Mother’s Prayer, who will be near the front in a field of 10. This will be Mother’s Prayer’s 12th start.
“He’ll be up close,” Specht said. “If they’re going slow, he’ll be up there.”
The Silky Sullivan is the turf stakes debut for Hacking It Up, the sharp winner of an optional claimer on turf at Santa Anita in February, a day he was eligible to be claimed for $50,000.
Hacking It Up was last of four in an optional claimer/starter allowance on dirt March 3, a race trainer George Papaprodromou is quick to dismiss.
“We’re back on turf,” he said. “He’s trained great since then. I think he’s going to run a huge race.”
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