Stakes winners Pippa Bou Peep, Finality’s Charmer clash in sprint feature
A couple of 2-year-old stakes winners, Finality’s Charmer and Pippa Bou Peep, look like the main protagonists in a $22,500 claiming race for 3-year-old fillies at Emerald Downs on Friday night. The six-furlong sprint drew seven horses, and the shape of the race could favor Pippa Bou Peep, who figures to take advantage of what figures to be a lively and contested pace.
Trained by Charles Essex, Pippa Bou Peep rallied from last to win a similar race Aug. 7 and could get the same kind of setup Friday. It was her first win this season and the first time she was eligible to be claimed since she debuted in a $25,000 maiden-claiming race last year. As a 2-year-old, she was never worse than third in six starts, with her lone win coming in the $50,000 Barbara Shinpock.
A Washington-bred daughter of Harbor the Gold, Pippa Bou Peep went unplaced in three straight stakes this year before taking a drop in class. With plenty of potential speed in the field Friday, she has an excellent chance of repeating with Rocco Bowen retaining the mount.
Finality’s Charmer was the champion 2-year-old filly in British Columbia last year for trainer Craig MacPherson but hasn’t won since she led from start to finish in the $100,000 Sadie Diamond Futurity at Hastings last Sept. 21.
A multiple sprint-stakes winner, Finality’s Charmer tried a middle distance for the first time in her most recent start in the $50,000 B.C. Cup Dogwood Handicap on Aug. 3 but surprisingly didn’t show her usual speed and finished fourth.
Race 5
Key Contenders
Pippa Bou Peep (Last 3 Beyers: 65-56-53)
◗ She beat most of these in her latest, and there should be speed coming back to her again. It is easy to imagine her moving forward following a confidence-building win.
Finality’s Charmer (Last 3 Beyers: 64-64-52)
◗ The blinkers go back on following a failed experiment in her first route attempt in the Dogwood.
◗ She is certainly the class of the speed and could take them all the way if she can clear early after leaving from the inside post.
Lucky Echo (Last 3 Beyers: 53-61-60)
◗ Trained by Rigoberto Velasquez, she was the even-money favorite in the race Pippa Bou Peep won but broke a step slowly and never got involved.
◗ She could show more speed with blinkers going on.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Over the past three years, Velasquez has a 33 percent strike rate with horses going back to wearing blinkers.