Shisospicy brings blazing speed into Mockingbird

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Shisospicy turned up the heat a little more than trainer Jose D’Angelo expected when she won her debut by double digits, and that performance should make her the favorite Saturday in the $150,000 Mockingbird at Oaklawn Park.

The six-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies drew a field of nine and goes as race 7 on a card highlighted by the $250,000 Smarty Jones.

Shisospicy invades from South Florida, where she launched her career Oct. 18 at Gulfstream Park. She led throughout in her debut, covering six furlongs in a brisk 1:10.65. For the effort, Shisospicy earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 80.

“She’s a filly that’s very gifted and talented,” D’Angelo said. “I felt she could win first time out, but she surprised me when she won by 16 lengths.”

The effort under Paco Lopez earned Shisospicy a trip to Churchill Downs for the Fern Creek over 6 1/2 furlongs on Nov. 30. She broke from the inside in a large field and set fractions of 21.70 seconds for the opening quarter and 44.30 for the half-mile before finishing third.

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“I felt like she deserved the shot to go straight to a stakes,” D’Angelo said. “She didn’t have the best break from the gate. She broke a little slow. Paco had to ask her. She went so fast with a longshot outside of her, going head to head. At the top of the stretch, she looked like a winner, but she got tired.

“We had to deal with the trip, with the fight on the lead, with the slow break, and she responded very well. She ran a close [third]. So now, she has some experience under her belt. She knows how to travel, too. She handled it good. This is her second trip. I think if everything goes in our favor, we’re going to be very tough on Saturday.”

Flavien Prat has the mount from post 7 for Morplay Racing.

Shisospicy is a daughter of Mitole, the champion who won the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn. D’Angelo said there were a couple of reasons he landed on the Mockingbird for Shisospicy, one being the six-furlong distance.

“I would like to keep her running short,” he said.

The other two fillies in the field who have placed in stakes are Battleshipper, who was second in the Prairie Meadows Freshman Stakes, and Clapping Trees, who was second in the Zia Park Princess.

G W’s Girl is back racing with fillies after facing males last out in the Indian Summer on turf at Keeneland. She was fifth, beaten two lengths by Governor Sam, who returned in his next start to run third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

G W’s Girl is making her first start on dirt and is bred for the surface as a daughter of Munnings and the mare Essence of Audre, who won her maiden at six furlongs on dirt. Francisco Arrieta has the mount from post 2 for trainer Greg Compton.

Chatter comes off a sharp maiden win at Keeneland.

◗ Hypnus, a 3-year-old colt by Into Mischief and out of the Grade 1-winning mare Dream Tree, debuts in the first race Saturday. Julien Leparoux has the mount for breeder and owner Phoenix Thoroughbreds III and trainer Kenny McPeek.

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