Somethinaboutlaura in Millions prep

ARCADIA, Calif. - The timing is right, but the distance is wrong. If Somethinaboutlaura wins the $75,000 Kalookan Queen Handicap on Thursday at Santa Anita, it will be because she simply is the best filly in the race.

"It's not an ideal situation," said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, citing the 6 1/2-furlong distance of the Kalookan Queen. "We're using this as a prep. The two-turn race is what we're shooting for."

Six fillies and mares entered the Kalookan Queen, which Somethinaboutlaura is using as a prep for the $500,000 Sunshine Millions Distaff at 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 27.

Somethinaboutlaura has won three straight - two at 1 1/16 miles and one at a mile - and 10 of 19 races overall, but Hollendorfer said the main goal Thursday is exercise.

"Of course were trying to win, but we needed to get the race into her to prepare for the bigger race Jan. 27," he said.

The last time Somethinaboutlaura went route to sprint, she won the Grade 2 A Gleam Handicap at seven furlongs at Hollywood Park. She has held form throughout the fall and starts Thursday as the 122-pound topweight under Victor Espinoza. Somethinaboutlaura is the 9-5 track favorite.

Five others will try to beat her: Indian Flare, Running Bobcats, Mazella, Four Legged Taxi, and River Savage.

Indian Flare has won 4 of 12 and should benefit Thursday from a shorter distance and a drop in class. Third last out, when she went one mile in a Grade 2 at Churchill Downs, Indian Flare has been freshened since Nov. 2. Trained by Bobby Frankel, she will be ridden by David Flores.

Running Bobcats has the potential to pull an upset in her second start in California. She has won 9 of 26 starts, mostly on the East Coast. Running Bobcats finished fifth in a turf race Nov. 17 at Hollywood, after which jockey Garrett Gomez told trainer Jack Carava that she did not care for the course. She also had an abbreviated work pattern, was racing under the lights, and had only one breeze after arriving from Florida.

"It was a lot to ask," Carava said. "She has trained a little better for this race, and her numbers are better on dirt."

Running Bobcats earned 96 Beyers in her last two dirt races, putting her squarely in the mix.

Without a true front-runner in the Kalookan Queen, pacesetting chores are up for grabs. River Savage is a two-turn filly who breaks from an inside post. She has imperfect vision in her right eye and is most effective when she gets to the outside.