Tizaqueena, Shared Account look hard to separate

Tizaqueena, a 5-year-old mare with eight graded stakes starts under her belt, will try to notch her ninth career win on Saturday in the Grade 3 All Along Stakes at Colonial Downs.

The 1 1/8-mile All Along heads two supporting turf stakes on a card topped by the $500,000 Colonial Turf Cup.

The 2-1 morning-line favorite, Tizaqueena will face seven rivals in the All Along, including Shared Account, who has finished out-of-the-money only once in six career starts. With career earnings of $630,118 from 15 starts, Tizaqueena has won two graded turf stakes, the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile last year at Churchill Downs and the Grade 3 Arlington Matron Handicap in her most recent start. She has hit the board in seven of her eight graded-stakes starts.

Shared Account had an impressive 3-year-old campaign last season, including five straight starts in graded stakes to close out the year, but all of those races were on soft or yielding turf. In her most recent start, she finished fourth, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the Grade 3 Gallorette Handicap at Pimlico on firm turf.

With Tizaqueena and Shared Account both preferring to run on or very close to the early pace, the All Along looks like it will set up to be a stretch battle between those two. However, both also appear to favor a slightly shorter distance than the All Along's nine furlongs.

It's hard to make a good case for any of the closers in the field, based on a lack of class and speed figures that put the rest of the field at least six or seven lengths behind both Shared Account and Tizaqueena.

The lone exception is the third choice, Dynaslew, who has two consecutive wins after being transferred to trainer Seth Benzel from Bill Mott's barn. Dynaslew also does her best running on or near the lead, and a soft pace up front will play into her hands as well.

Casablanca Smile will be making her first start in the United States after being imported from Chile to the barn of Shug McGaughey. She won 5 of 12 starts, including two Group 1 races, in her native country.

* Libor Lady, second in the $100,000 Giant's Causeway at Keeneland in April, and Suzzona, second by a neck in The Very One at Pimlico two starts ago, are the prime contenders among 14 female sprinters going 5 1/2 furlongs on turf in the $50,000 Buckland Stakes.