Slewperstitus key contender whether she runs in Dolley Madison or Jamestown

Slewperstitus, a 2-year-old filly trained by Robert Bailes, will make her turf debut at Colonial Downs on Saturday, but her competition remains unclear. Bailes cross-entered her in two state-restricted $125,000 stakes on the card, the Dolley Madison and Jamestown.

“We’ll probably put our heads together Friday night and figure it out,” Bailes said.

After an 8 3/4-length debut victory in July, Slewperstitus came up short by a neck against undefeated filly Just Philtored in the $100,000 Keswick earlier this month. Both Maryland-bred fillies are by versatile sire Great Notion, and if Bailes keeps Slewperstitus in the Dolley Madison on Saturday, she will be rematched with Just Philtored, who will be making her own turf debut for Mike Trombetta.

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“As far as the turf, that’s a bit of an unknown,” Trombetta said of Just Philtored. “We didn’t get the opportunity to train her over it. There’s nothing I could really do about that, we’re just gonna have to find out.”

Bailes has not had a turf debut winner in more than two years, but he is confident about Slewperstitus’s chances after a productive workout on the grass on Aug. 15.

“When she worked out there, it seemed like she wanted to do more than we were asking of her,” Bailes said.

Because Just Philtored is pulling focus in the Dolley Madison, Slewperstitus is actually a shorter price in the Jamestown. Despite being the 6-5 morning-line favorite against the boys, Bailes said he is still leaning toward the Dolley Madison. Owner Eric Rizer admitted Thursday that he was tempted by the idea of a rematch against Just Philtored.

Regardless of which race Bailes chooses, Trombetta will be waiting. In the Dolley Madison, 6-5 morning-line favorite Just Philtored will be joined by her stablemate, Hark Theangelssing, who closed late to win a maiden special weight on turf in her debut last month. The 41-1 longshot finished 2 1/2 lengths ahead of another Trombetta filly, In Her Glory, who came back to win a maiden special weight at Saratoga.

If Slewperstitus runs in the Jamestown, she will take on Doubting Thomas, a colt who won his debut on the turf with a sharp 65 Beyer Speed Figure last month. He is the 5-2 second choice for Trombetta, who is gearing up for an inescapable showdown with one of the best in Bailes’s barn.

“I’m going to have to run against her either way, with one or the other,” Trombetta said.

For Rizer, Slewperstitus’s owner and breeder, it is especially important for the filly to earn her first stakes victory for her late dam, Slew of Bullets. The West Virginia-bred mare raced for the Rizer family in 2010 and 2011 and has produced four foals to reach the track.

Slew of Bullets passed away earlier this year after it was determined that medical intervention would not improve the mare’s quality of life due to internal scarring and colic. She had just given birth to a full sibling to Slewperstitus.

“We’re going to carry on her tradition on the farm,” Rizer said. “This is our fourth generation with her on our farm, so it’s something that’s very dear to us.”

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