Turf sprints are her specialty

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Weather permitting, Whenthedoveflies will look to rebound from her only career loss in nine races at five furlongs when she headlines the $55,000 Klassy Briefcase Stakes for fillies and mares Saturday at Monmouth Park.

Trainer Kirk Ziadie will not run her on anything but a firm turf course.

She caught a yielding course for the Calder Turf Sprint Handicap on July 10 and faded badly in a race she had won the year before. Ziadie won't put her in that position again.

"If the track comes up soft, I'm not even going to think about running," he said. "I now know I definitely don't want to run her on it."

The Calder race was a disappointment, as the 5-year-old Whenthe-doveflies went off as the 9-5 favorite and didn't put up a fight.

"I like to always retain a title," said Ziadie, who is spending his first summer at Monmouth. "When somebody beats me, I want to meet them again on a firm course. That's in the back of my head right now. I want to show everybody what she's really all about."

Whenthedoveflies first established her turf sprinting credentials at Tampa Bay Downs.

"She just can't go two turns," Ziadie said. "She has got perfect feet for grass. They have a lot of five-furlong races at Tampa. Once we got her on, it was smooth sailing after that."

Whenthedoveflies faces a very competitive field in the five-furlong Klassy Briefcase, including Melody of Colors from trainer Tim Hills.

The consistent Melody of Colors was third in this race last year and most recently ran third in an allowance race here. Melody of Colors has won 8 of 35 career starts and more than $300,000.

Letthefreedomroar should appreciate the cut back in distance. She set the pace in a one-mile grass claiming race at Belmont Park for trainer Mike Miceli. She has twice run in five-furlong grass sprints at Tampa Bay Downs and finished second both times.

Tyro: Barometer for babies

Races like the $60,000 Tyro Stakes help trainers get a better line on their 2-year-old winners.

The babies have won their maidens, but the quality of the competition is hard to gauge. Allowance races for 2-year-olds this early in the season don't often fill, so a stakes becomes the logical progression.

Rockin Hoss is one of the colts taking that step in this 5 1/2-furlong race.

He has run once, a 10 1/4-length blowout at Philadelphia Park.

An impressive win, but how tough was it?

"I don't know what kind of horses he beat," said trainer Robert Sise. "He won pretty easy. He acts like he's a decent horse."

The same can be said for the rest of the field.

Basha's Punch won second time out at Pimlico for trainer Crystal Pickett, while Confront also won at second asking at Monmouth for Tim Kelly.

H. Graham Motion entered a pair: Cradle Robber and Creve Coeur. Cradle Robber, cross-entered in a turf stakes at Colonial Downs on Sunday, overcame a 16-length deficit to win at Colonial, while Creve Coeur won first time out at Delaware Park and ran fourth last time in the Tremont Stakes at Belmont Park.

Rocky Blue easily won his debut at Delaware for trainer John Servis.

He's Got Grit, Jimmy Jammer, Stormatic, and The Village Vicar complete the field.