Touching Promise shortens up for featured optional claimer

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Saturday’s feature at Hastings is a $35,000 optional claimer for fillies and mares that drew six hard-to-separate horses going 6 1/2 furlongs. It goes as race 2 on a seven-race card that begins at 1:50 p.m. Pacific.

It might be worth taking a shot on Touching Promise. Trained by Barbara Heads, she has won only a couple of races in her 18-race career, but she looked good in winning a second-level allowance race two back and forced the pace before tiring to finish fourth going 1 1/8 miles Sept. 14 in the $50,000 Delta Colleen.

She should appreciate the move back to a sprint, and she is reunited with leading rider Amadeo Perez, who was aboard for her win.

Castinette Dancer is coming off a second-place finish in the $50,000 Pegasus Training Center for Washington-bred fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on Sept. 7 at Emerald Downs. A 6-year-old mare trained by Troy Taylor, Castinette Dancer has a solid 3-1-2 record from nine starts at the distance and is an obvious threat if she brings her best stuff. However, she hasn’t won this year, and she hasn’t shown the good tactical speed she used earlier in her career to win three stakes races.

Key contenders

Touching Promise (Last 3 Beyers: 70-70-72)

She finished a close third in the Grade 3 Ballerina last year, but both of her wins came at today’s distance. She could be the speed in a race in which they probably won’t be going all that fast early.

Terlani (Last 3 Beyers: 73-67-72)

The two-time sprint stakes winner is coming off a second-place finish behind the Grade 3 winner Madeira Park going 6 1/2 furlongs Aug. 29. Trained by Frank Barroby, she may have tipped her hand when she worked a bullet three furlongs in 34.20 seconds over a sloppy track Wednesday.

Castinette Dancer (Last 3 Beyers: 82-70-71)

She is coming off a big effort at Emerald Downs and won’t mind the move back to a sprint.

This will be the first time she’s been eligible to be claimed since she finished second in a $32,000 maiden-claiming race Dec. 9, 2010, at Golden Gate. She has earned more than $200,000 since Taylor claimed her on behalf of Glen Todd in her second start for $20,000.

DRF Formulator Fact: Over the past five years, Taylor has a 23 percent strike rate with horses going from a route to a sprint. With horses running at Hastings, the number jumps to 29 percent.