Sorrento field full of speedy fillies
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Which front-runner will crack, and who will survive, in the Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes for 2-year-old fillies Saturday at Del Mar?
“It looks like all of us want to do the exact same thing,” Ryan Hanson, trainer of debut winner Night Beacon, noted.
They all want to make the lead.
Each of the five Sorrento entrants won their most recent start leading gate to wire, but Saturday at Del Mar, the competition is tougher, the pace is extreme, and the six-furlong distance is farther than most have run.
Sorrento favoritism could boil down to stakes winner Vodka With a Twist or runaway debut winner Nooni. The evenly matched field also includes stakes winner White Sands and debut winner Casalu.
A prominent filly missing from the Sorrento is flashy debut winner A. Z. Wildcat. She got sick and will miss the summer meet. Trainer John Sadler expects her to return this fall at Santa Anita.
Nooni was purchased for $1.8 million at a 2-year-old sale and ran accordingly for trainer Bob Baffert. She won by more than nine lengths with a 78 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest in the Sorrento field. The challenge for Nooni and jockey Juan Hernandez is the rail post with tons of speed to her outside. Nooni’s three recent works over Del Mar surface were impressive.
Casalu, also trained by Baffert, wired maidens July 21 at Del Mar and adds speed from post 2 under Kazushi Kimura. Santa Anita debut winner Night Beacon drew post 3. Vodka With a Twist drew post 4, and White Sands drew post 5. The last-out Beyers of the five entrants are bunched from 72 to 78.
Vodka With a Twist was purchased privately after a maiden victory at Churchill Downs, and on June 30, in her first start for trainer Phil D’Amato, she wired the six-furlong Debutante at Churchill. A week later, she was in California to target the Sorrento.
“She’s gotten plenty of works in. I’ve been impressed with pretty much every one,” D’Amato said. “She’s extremely versatile. If you need to be on the pace, she can. If you need to stalk, we’ve been doing that with her, too. I think she can do both.”
Vodka With a Twist’s versatility is not evident in her past performances, as she set the pace in both wins. But her versatility was on display July 28 in a team work at Del Mar. Vodka With a Twist broke off with older Group 2 winner Super Shine, rallied four wide on the turn, and was going better than her older workmate late. Mike Smith rides Vodka With a Twist.
Night Beacon was impressive in her own right winning her maiden. “We gave her some time and tried to space her works out,” Hanson said. “But the last month and a half, she’s revved up and she’s worked better each week. Her last two works over the track here have been really good.”
Night Beacon smoked five furlongs Aug. 3 in 58.80, the fastest of the day at that distance. Night Beacon’s rider, Emily Ellingwood, is seeking her first graded stakes.
White Sands won her first two starts for trainer Wesley Ward – a maiden race at Belterra Park and a stakes at Prairie Meadows by more than 13 lengths. White Sands also is nominated to the Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes on Sunday. Joe Bravo is named to ride.
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