Smile Again Theta seeks best form in Fall Classic Distaff

Smile Again Theta isn’t the most reliable horse, but she looks like the one to beat Saturday in the $50,000 Fall Classic Distaff at Northlands Park.

The 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares drew five horses. If Smile Again Theta runs like she did July 17 in the $60,000 Madamoiselle, the rest of the field is running for second money.

Trained by Jerri Robertson, Smile Again Theta won the 1 1/16-mile Madamoiselle by 19 1/4 lengths but came back to lose by double-digit lengths Aug. 14 in the City of Edmonton Distaff and Aug. 28 in a $35,000 optional claimer. In both of her losses, she chased a fast pace before fading.

In the Madamoiselle, she was aided by an off track, and it didn’t hurt that the odds-on favorite, Rock and Glory, got off to a poor start.

Smile Again Theta will be ridden by leading rider Rico Walcott for the first time this year.

“The track is muddy now, so hopefully it will still have some moisture in it Saturday,” Robertson said Thursday morning. “It’s a bonus any time you can get Rico.”

Robertson said Walcott probably will put Smile Again Theta into a stalking position after she breaks from post 4.

Key Contenders

Fall Classic Distaff (race 4)

Smile Again Theta (Last 3 Beyers: 52-51-78)

* A wet track certainly would help her cause. She also could get a nice trip stalking what figures to be a fast and contested pace.

Brady’s Tomboy (Last 3 Beyers: 20-59-56)

* She seems to thrive in the fall for trainer Dale Saunders. She was the favorite when she won the 2013 Fall Classic, and she paid $15.60 for her win last year.

Alberta Oaks (race 6)

Queenoftheforest (Last 3 Beyers: 64-65-70)

* The Greg Tracy trainee dominated her last four sprints and will be trying a middle distance for the first time in this one-mile race for 3-year-old fillies.

* One of her three older siblings is a route winner, and considering how she towers over the field, she should be able to carry her substantial speed this far.

Sturgeon River (race 7)

High Dollar Gal (Last 2 Beyers: 36-16)

* She improved greatly when she won the $49,000 Two Year Old Filly Sales Stakes in her second start for Tracy and figures to be a short price in the 6 1/2-furlong dash for 2-year-old fillies.

DRF Formulator fact: Over the past five years at Northlands, trainer Tracy has a 31 percent strike rate in 2-year-old stakes races.

Leena (Last 3 Beyers: 30-27-27)

* She will appreciate facing Alberta-breds after finishing third to Bootleggers Wife in the $51,000 Bird of Pay.

* Trained by Robert MacDonald, she rallied to finish second in the Two Year Old Filly Sales Stakes in her previous start.