Soho, Angiolleta bring turf experience to Pike Place Dancer

Chasing a slow pace doomed Soho’s chance in the Grade 3 Surfer Girl Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 8.

“It wasn’t the race we were looking for,” trainer John Sadler said. “They didn’t come back. We kind of wrote it off.”

The fifth-place finish ended any plans of a start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 3. Instead, Soho has an excellent chance for her first stakes win in Saturday’s $75,000 Pike Place Dancer Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at a mile on turf at Golden Gate Fields.

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Soho, who races for Michael Talla and West Point Thoroughbreds, is part of a field of six in the first stakes of the track’s autumn meeting.

Soho’s primary rivals are Angiolleta, who was seventh in the Surfer Girl, and Charlene’s Dream, a troubled second in an allowance race for sprinters on the synthetic main track at Golden Gate Fields on Oct. 2.

This time, Soho is likely to have pace to follow. Tour Queen, who drew the inside, led throughout her only previous start, a maiden race at six furlongs on the synthetic track on Sep. 17. Tour Queen could face an early threat from Kristin Lee, who is winless in four starts since a maiden race at Pleasanton in June and will race on turf and at a mile for the first time.

Soho has worked quickly of late, going a half-mile in 46.60 seconds at Santa Anita last Sunday. Sadler expects Soho to race as a stalker.

“I think she’s versatile,” Sadler said.

Charlene’s Dream won her debut in a maiden race at 5 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 28, and was second by 1 3/4 lengths in an allowance race on Oct. 2 after racing in traffic on the turn.

“I’ve been pretty high on her the whole time,” trainer Ed Moger Jr. said. “She acts talented.

“She should be good on turf. She does not have to be on the lead. She rates pretty easy, too.”

Angiolleta, an Irish-bred filly, has had mixed form since arriving in the United States in early summer. A closer, she won her debut in a one-mile turf race for maidens at Del Mar on July 29, and overcame trouble to finish third in the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf at a mile on Sept. 9. Angiolleta was beaten four lengths by Dreamfyre in the Surfer Girl Stakes, failing to make an impression in the stretch.

“Maybe, she didn’t fire her best race,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “She seems fresh and ready to go again.

“Before she ever debuted for us, we were excited. We’re still holding on to that. She shows in the morning that she’s above average.”

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