Tacit Approval aims to end skid in optional claimer
An optional claimer on familiar territory may be what Tacit Approval needs to reverse a four-race losing streak Friday at Los Alamitos.
The 3-year-old filly Tacit Approval has been highly regarded since she was purchased for $340,000 at the Barretts March Sale of 2-year-olds in training in 2013. She has won 2 of 11 starts, including a starter allowance at Los Alamitos in July after being offered for a $40,000 claiming price at Santa Anita in June.
Trainer Craig Dollase is hoping Tacit Approval will appreciate a start on her local track.
“I train at Los Al, and I hope to have a home-court advantage,” Dollase said.
Tacit Approval is part of a field of seven in the one-mile optional claimer. Her main rival is Swiss Lake Yodeler, the winner of two lucrative stakes for California-breds last year.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Swiss Lake Yodeler. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is 25-11-3-4 with a $2.67 ROI over the past five years going from synthetic to dirt and sprint to route. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Key contenders
Tacit Approval (Last 3 Beyers: 64-74-74)
* Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Tacit Approval finished fifth in an optional claimer Oct. 19 at Golden Gate Fields, her most recent start. She had two quick works at Los Alamitos in late November, including a half-mile in 47.40 seconds Nov. 25.
* Dollase said Tacit Approval fought an illness after the Golden Gate Fields race.
“She had a little setback and got sick,” he said. “Now we’re getting her back into form. We backed off, and she’s had a couple of decent workouts.”
* Dollase said it is “hard to say” how much the recent illnesses impacted Tacit Approval’s loss at Golden Gate Fields.
Swiss Lake Yodeler (Last 3 Beyers: 68-72-35)
* Swiss Lake Yodeler finished seventh in the Betty Grable Stakes over seven furlongs Nov. 9 at Del Mar, her first start since a third-place finish in the $250,000 Melair Stakes for California-bred 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita in April.
“She needed the race, and we’re ready to go again,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said. “She should be able to get the mile.”
* Owned by breeders Larry and Marianne Williams, Swiss Lake Yodeler won the Golden State Juvenile Fillies over a mile at Santa Anita in November 2013 and followed with a win in the Soviet Problem Stakes over seven furlongs at Hollywood Park a month later.
Fleet of Gold (Last 3 Beyers: 79-83-64)
* Trained by Hollendorfer, Fleet of Gold is winless in 10 starts this year. The 3-year-old filly has been second in four of her last five starts, all at a mile or farther.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Soresca. Trainer James Cassidy is 12-1-1-2 with a $0.53 ROI over the past five years going turf to dirt in routes. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan