Tricky Temper won't be 15-1 this time

How good is Tricky Temper? We should find out when she tackles a solid field of 3-year-old fillies in the $50,000 Chariot Chaser Handicap at Northlands Park on Saturday. The 6 1/2-furlong feature drew nine horses and goes as the seventh race.

Tricky Temper wasn't given much of a chance by the betting public when she made her stakes debut in the $80,000 Mount Royal Handicap on June 7. Sent off at over 15-1, Tricky Temper proved she belonged by scoring an impressive win over the odds-on favorite, Dandy Dora.

Tricky Temper battled through honest fractions, and after shaking off Belong Again, she never looked threatened. Her trainer, Kelly Grieves, wasn't completely surprised when she won the Mount Royal.

"I was a little surprised but not shocked," said Grieves. "The only time she got beat I really didn't have her ready to run."

Grieves was referring to Tricky Temper's sixth-place finish in a maiden special weight race in her second start last year. She finished first when she debuted in a $12,000 maiden race but was disqualified and placed second for her only other loss.

Desmond Bryan, who rode her for the first time in the Mount Royal, retains the mount.

There is plenty of other speed in the field, particularly What R the Odds, who is shipping in from Hastings.

What R the Odds, trained by Mel Snow, beat Dandy Dora in the Emerald Downs at Hastings on May 10 and then finished up the track when she shipped to Emerald for the Federal Way Handicap on May 24.

Dandy Dora, the champion 2-year-old filly in Alberta last year, didn't show her usual speed in the Mount Royal.