She Be Wild moves up in pecking order

Mi Sueno, the most accomplished 2-year-old filly on the West Coast, is injured. Hot Dixie Chick, the beast of the East, is on vacation. Thus, the Chicago-based She Be Wild has to be considered the division leader entering the final round of prep races for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 6 at Santa Anita.

Mi Sueno was expected to be among the favorites for Sunday's Grade 1 Oak Leaf Stakes at Oak Tree at Santa Anita, a race used by Stardom Bound last year en route to her Juvenile Fillies victory. But during a workout Tuesday at Hollywood Park, Mi Sueno, who won the Sorrento and Darley Debutante, sustained a condylar fracture of her right cannon bone that could jeopardize her career.

Meanwhile, Hot Dixie Chick, who won the Schuylerville and Spinaway at Saratoga, is not being pointed to the Juvenile Fillies. She has not worked since winning the Spinaway on Sept. 6 and her connections have yet to confirm whether she will run again this year. Awesome Maria, who won the Grade 2 Matron at Belmont on Sept. 19, is being pointed to the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont on Oct. 10. Her Breeders' Cup plans are uncertain, though trainer Stanley Hough says he has "reservations'' about shipping her cross-country to run over a synthetic surface.

She Be Wild went 3 for 3 over Arlington Park's synthetic surface, including a 5 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Arlington Washington Lassie on Sept. 5. Trainer Wayne Catalano, who won the 2006 Juvenile Fillies with Dreaming of Anna, is pointing She Be Wild to the Alcibiades at Keeneland on Oct. 9.

Among She Be Wild's competition in the Alcibiades will be Beautician, who finished second to Hot Dixie Chick in the Schuylerville and Spinaway. Trainer Ken McPeek has said all along that his filly would excel around two turns and he has "no concern'' whether she will handle the synthetic surface.

Sunday's Oak Leaf Stakes figures to showcase a new leader of the West Coast division and there are many candidates. Pure Class was a visually impressive winner of a two-turn, one mile maiden race at Del Mar on Sept. 7 after she finished fifth in her debut sprinting. John Sadler, the trainer of Pure Class, said two turns is what Pure Class has been craving all along.

"A lot of these horses haven't been around two turns, but she has and she did it very well,'' Sadler said.

The Oak Leaf is also expected to attract Darley Debutante second- through fourth-place finishers Blind Luck, La Nez, and It Tiz as well as maiden winners Softly Singing and Always a Princess.