Talented filly stepping up in Battler Star

NEW ORLEANS - You'llbeinmyheart has been in a different league than the horses she has beaten up on in her first two career starts. Sunday, her connections can get a better fix on her ability when You'llbeinmyheart moves into stakes company for the first time.

You'llbeinmyheart faces five rivals in the $75,000 Battler Star Handicap, a six-furlong race for Louisiana-bred 3-year-old fillies. At least one of them, C J's Princess, a multiple stakes winner, will test You'llbeinmyheart in a way she has not yet experienced in her racing career.

You'llbeinmyheart was the easiest kind of winner in a statebred maiden race Jan. 25 and in a statebred allowance Feb. 9, winning those two starts by a combined 16 1/2 lengths. Owned by Vickie Krantz and trained by Gary Palmisano, You'llbeinmyheart's pedigree - by Broad Brush out of a Miswaki mare - speaks more of Kentucky than Louisiana, and the filly could easily turn out to be a standout in Louisiana restricted races.

Palmisano said he has not yet trained You'llbeinmyheart hard in the morning, and in the end she could turn out to be a better route horse than a sprinter. In fact, You'llbeinmyheart, who is ridden by Robby Albarado, may need to improve to win the Battler Star. C J's Star, trained by Don Cormier, comes off a 7 1/2-length win in the Elge Rasberry Memorial here Jan. 3, and on Louisiana Champions Day finished a strong second in the Champions Day Lassie.

The remainder of the field consists of Dandy Princess, Toujour Winning, Sunny Scarlett, and Rio De Oro.

Bien Sur for sure

Trainer Al Stall was slated to start the 3-year-old filly Summer Delight on Saturday afternoon in the Fair Grounds Oaks, and Tomokas Outrageous on Saturday night in the Sam Houston Oaks, but Stall's best 3-year-old filly might have run Thursday in a Fair Grounds allowance race. Bien Sur remained unbeaten in two starts with a dominant one-length win in a six-furlong, first-level allowance.

She beat a solid field and, as she had in her debut, overcame a troubled trip. Bien Sur got away last in a field of nine and jockey Curt Bourque stuck to the rail for much of the race, finding a sliver of room to swing outside for the stretch run.

"To be pinned down at the rail both times and win, that's rare," Stall said.

Bien Sur, owned and bred by Victoria Ashford, doesn't have a lot of pedigree - she is a Texas-bred by Is It True out of a mare by Filiberto - and Stall wasn't certain how good she was, even after Bien Sur ran well winning a schooling race here.

"I still wasn't sure after that," he said. "We gave her a pretty salty gate work, and then we thought we might have something."

Stall points out that Bien Sur, a relaxed filly, has run steady races in both of her sprints, often a sign that a horse can successfully stretch out to routes. In fact, Stall had entered Bien Sur in a two-turn allowance race against colts this past Monday, but scratched in favor of Thursday's race.

Now he isn't sure what to do with Bien Sur, since second-level allowance races for 3-year-old fillies are virtually impossible to find. "There's the Beaumont and the La Troienne at seven-eighths, but those are tough spots," he said.