Stidham stable shines over the weekend

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – At Woodbine on Sunday, the turf-sprinting filly Katie’s Eyes finished second by a neck to Go Blue Or Go Home in a wickedly fast edition of the Grade 2 Highlander Stakes, an open race in which she tackled males, and on Friday at Arlington, the 2-year-old filly Amira J blazed to a 14-length win in her five-furlong career debut. All in all, it was a good weekend for the stable of Mike Stidham, who trains both horses.

Katie’s Eyes saw her four-race turf-sprint win streak end but lost little in defeat, earning a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure (the raw time of the six-furlong Highlander was an eye-popping 1:07.18) and encouraging her connections to aim for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. That race will be contested at Keeneland, where Katie’s Eyes won the Giant’s Causeway in April. In the shorter term, Katie’s Eyes will be pointed to the $100,000 Caress Stakes on Aug. 2 at Saratoga, Stidham said.

Amira J, meanwhile, went off at 3-5 in her maiden win in part because of an in-company workout with Katie’s Eyes, her last before her debut. Stidham said Amira J was given a three-length head start in the work, the barn assuming Katie’s Eyes “would run over top of her,” but Katie’s Eyes couldn’t catch up.

Amira J led at every call Friday and got her last furlong in 11.99 seconds for a final time of 58.05 seconds for five furlongs on Polytrack. That produced an 87 Beyer, the highest figure so far this year for a 2-year-old filly, and from all appearances, Amira J should run farther. “She’s a really attractive, big, tall filly that doesn’t look like a five-furlong horse,” Stidham said.

Amira J, by Sky Mesa, has a synthetic- and turf-oriented pedigree, and has never so much as galloped on dirt for Stidham, and for now, she will be kept to turf and Polytrack, with possible upcoming starts in the Natalma at Woodbine and the Arlington-Washington Lassie. The Natalma, a grass race, carries Win and You’re In status for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Stidham says he probably has the strongest group of 2-year-olds in his training career. The Zip Zip Man, bound for the Colin Stakes at Woodbine, got an 83 Beyer romping in his Arlington debut last month. And while Amira J improved in her two final works before her race, Stidham said she was regularly getting outworked by some of his unraced 2-year-olds earlier this summer. Expect to see several of those horses starting off at the Del Mar meet.