Sheer Pleasure back against statebreds in Fleet Treat
DEL MAR, Calif. – After an unsuccessful venture into graded stakes, Sheer Pleasure starts in her fourth stakes for California-bred 3-year-old fillies Saturday in the $200,000 Fleet Treat Stakes at seven furlongs at Del Mar.
She will be a strong favorite to win her third stakes of the year in the division.
Sheer Pleasure had mixed results in stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita in the spring. After winning the $196,000 Melair Stakes for California-breds on May 23, Sheer Pleasure was fourth in the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks on June 20. She finished 5 1/2 lengths behind Stellar Wind, the winner of the Santa Anita Oaks in April and a candidate for the $300,000 Clement Hirsch Stakes for older fillies and mares here Aug. 1.
Trainer Phil D’Amato said race tactics were not in favor of Sheer Pleasure in the $200,250 Summertime Oaks. She raced in third early and was not a factor in the stretch.
“If we had to do things over, we would have let her run out of there,” D’Amato said. “She was behind a slow pace. She’s a filly that’s a strong galloper, and you have to let her do her thing.”
The Fleet Treat Stakes will be the first sprint for Sheer Pleasure since a win in the $201,000 Evening Jewel Stakes at seven furlongs for California-bred 3-year-old fillies April 4 at Santa Anita, her first stakes win. By Birdonthewire, Sheer Pleasure races for Little Red Feather Racing and RM Racing.
D’Amato said a successful race in the Fleet Treat could lead to a start in the $100,000 Torrey Pines Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Aug. 30. The Torrey Pines is a Grade 3 race run at a mile.
Sheer Pleasure is the only stakes winner in a field of seven in the Fleet Treat, which includes Patsy G and Me, who was second in the Pleasanton Oaks against open company June 21 at the Alameda County Fair, and Ashley’s Sassy, who was second in the Campanile Stakes for statebred 3-year-old fillies on turf at Golden Gate Fields in April and fourth in the Melair.