Two underachievers try to salvage season

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Earlier this year, Shelby Madison and Lady Vye were being pointed to bigger races than Saturday's Fall Fashion. But their accomplishments have fallen short of their connections' expectations, and as a result the fillies find themselves in the Fall Fashion, which is for 3-year-old fillies who haven't won a stakes worth $20,000 or more in 2002.

Shelby Madison closed out her 2-year-old season with a front-running win in the 1 1/16-mile Fantasy Stakes. Lady Vye, who finished third in the Fantasy, won the Debutante earlier in her 2-year-old year. Both looked like they would be battling for divisional honors as 3-year-olds, but after encouraging races in their first races this year, they haven't been able to handle either Elana d'Amour or Grace for You, who have dominated the 3-year-old filly division at Hastings this year.

Shelby Madison had shown good speed as a 2-year-old but nothing like she displayed when she went right to the front in the Fair Lady Stakes on opening day this year. Toni Jacobson-Cloutier, who trains Shelby Madison for her parents, Roy and Dixie Jacobson, thinks that race might have set her back for the first part of the year.

"We were surprised to see her go that fast and then hold on as well as she did to finish third," she said. "It kind of knocked her out, though, and she was never really the same until recently."

Shelby Madison was given some time off in the middle of the summer and she has come back a much better horse in the fall. She easily defeated $50,000 optional fillies Sept. 1 and then came very close to beating older stakes mares in her next two starts. She made a big move to finish three -quarters of a length behind her stablemate Lilsisterlighting in a $50,000 optional sprint and in her most recent start she missed by a head to Catahoula Rose in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race Oct. 19.

"I was really proud of her when she almost beat Lilsisterlightning because I know how tough that one is," said Cloutier. "And she ran a great race to a very nice older filly in her last start."

Cloutier thinks that Shelby Madison could be a major player in the older mare division next year.

"She's really settling down as she's getting older," she said. "She's always been a bit high-strung but she's changed quite a bit lately and I'm looking forward to seeing how she progresses over the winter."

Lady Vye started out this season with an impressive come-from-behind win over $50,000 optional fillies, but that is her only win this year. She has finished second in three stakes, and according to her trainer, Rick Kamps, her fifth-place finish in the Ballerina was a lot better race than it looks on paper.

"She got stopped just past the quarter pole, otherwise she would have been a lot closer," he said. "She made a good run at them after that but it was too late. She's been right there all year but those other two fillies have just been too tough."

Optimism exotics will be restored

In reaction to the Breeders' Cup pick six scandal, the Canadian Parimutuel Agency passed a rule Wednesday banning the pick six, win four, and superfecta. Management at Hastings is hoping that the issue will be resolved by this weekend and included the wagers in its official program.

According to Garth Essary, vice president of operations at Hastings, meetings were scheduled for Thursday and Friday between representatives of Hastings's parent company, Woodbine Entertainment, and the CPMA to try and resolve the issue.