Turn to Lass may be false favorite in Miss Mommy

Turn to Lass, the runner-up in the Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs earlier this month, could be a slight favorite in Saturday's $40,000 Miss Mommy Stakes at Hawthorne. The six-furlong Miss Mommy attracted a field of six.

Following Turn to Lass's impressive 3 1/2-length win in an entry-level allowance at Hawthorne in her second start, trainer Eugene Brajczewski decided to take a shot in the Pocahontas. Perhaps benefiting from the weakness of the field, Turn to Lass held second by a nose, 2 1/2 lengths behind the winner, Stellar Jayne. Though the winning Beyer for the Pocahontas, 72, was in Turn to Lass's ballpark, it was well below par for recent runnings of that stakes.

Bad Kitty comes into the Miss Mommy off a faster performance, a 6 1/2-length winner in an allowance at Hawthorne Oct. 30. Bad Kitty earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 83 for that win, and has broken the 80 plateau in both of her victories, something Turn to Lass has not yet done. Bad Kitty's only poor effort came in the Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Lassie in September.

Journey Fever, who has lost to both of the top contenders, rallied from 14th to finish second, beaten a length, in the Showtime Deb Stakes for Illinois-breds in her last start. Journey Fever's late rally was aided by the fast early pace in the Showtime Deb, but she might not get as nice a setup in the Miss Mommy.