Shimmering Allure holds serious advantage in five-horse Busanda

In her seven starts, Shimmering Allure has been favored just once, when she won a restricted maiden race in September at Churchill Downs. Saturday, in the $100,000 Busanda, Shimmering Allure will most definitely not be flying under the radar. She’ll be an odds-on favorite facing just four foes and will almost certainly win if she repeats her last two performances.

“She’s been rock solid from the beginning, but we’re not taking anything for granted,” said trainer Kenny McPeek.

McPeek does not hesitate to run his young horses rather than train and train toward a specific target. Shimmering Allure started seven times as a 2-year-old and her arrow pointed up throughout 2023, the filly improving her Beyer Speed Figure every race.

Her career began with a clunk, Shimmering Allure finishing a distant seventh with a 39 Beyer in a five-furlong Ellis Park maiden race. Sent to New York in November, Shimmering Allure won the $150,000 Tempted, a one-turn mile, and was even better stretching to two turns and 1 1/8 miles Dec. 2, when she finished second in the Grade 2 Demoiselle, topping out with a 79 Beyer.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

“We ran her in short races earlier, which was not her preference. She’s got plenty of stamina, a good turn of foot. This race being a small field, the tricky part is the pace,” McPeek said.

A slow pace in the Demoiselle might have cost Shimmering Allure victory. Life Talk led from start to finish, setting a moderate tempo over a sloppy track. Well placed early, Shimmering Allure lost some position to the half-mile pole before coming with a strong, wide run around the turn to reach contention. Ground loss began taking its toll in the late stages, as Life Talk got away again. Still, Shimmering Allure finished well enough that the nine furlongs of the Busanda ought not be her undoing.

Trainer Brad Cox, who won two Aqueduct stakes last weekend, runs Gin Gin, who has been working over the Belmont Park training track since a tame fifth-place finish Nov. 25 in the Grade 2 Golden Rod at Churchill Downs. Gin Gin, coming off an even second in the Rags to Riches Stakes, saved ground racing midpack and made a brief run from the three-sixteenths pole to the eighth pole before flattening late. She has not reached a level as high as Shimmering Allure and does not feel like a filly sitting on serious improvement.

McPeek’s point regarding pace has validity. Princess Mayfair, who worked Jan. 5 at Penn National for trainer Steven Chircop, set a slow tempo finishing second last out in a two-turn allowance race run over Woodbine’s Tapeta track, but she was fast enough to lead her previous start, a 5 1/2-furlong sprint. Class Act went gate to wire last out winning a modest Aqueduct nine-furlong maiden race, while Most of All prompted Life Talk in the Demoiselle before losing by 13 lengths.

The Busanda is part of the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, and all five entrants will earn qualifying points, distributed 20-10-6-4-2. Shimmering Allure should lead them home.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.