Umpateedle vs. Cobra Lady

Umpateedle and Cobra Lady, two extremely consistent older female sprinters, meet for the first time in Tuesday night's $75,000 Ohio Valley Handicap at Mountaineer Race Track.

The six-furlong feature, which goes as race 9 on a 10-race program, drew a field of seven fillies and mares.

The 6-year-old Umpateedle, trained by Mark Shuman for owner Michael Gill, has a career record of 13 wins in 46 starts while competing primarily in New Jersey, Delaware, and West Virginia.

Last season, Umpateedle won five races, including a 4 1/2-furlong stakes at Charles Town. She was also sharp enough to finish second in the Grade 3 Endine at Delaware Park.

Umpateedle's two other stakes victories came in the 2004 Primonetta at Pimlico and the 2003 Regret at Monmouth Park.

She comes into the Ohio Valley just 10 days after battling through quick fractions and tiring in the Sweet N Sassy Stakes at Delaware.

Cobra Lady, a 5-year-old mare trained and owned by J. Michael Baird, is 11 for 20 lifetime and 7 for 14 over Mountaineer's main track.

In addition to her home track, Cobra Lady has won at Thistledown, Turfway Park, and Hoosier Park the past two seasons. Her only stakes win came in October 2003 at Mountaineer.

In her most recent start, the five-furlong Hancock County Handicap on May 17, Cobra Lady failed to display her usual early zip and finished a distant third after attempting to circle the field entering the stretch. The extra furlong of the Ohio Valley should be to Cobra Lady's advantage.

Hostility, the filly who wired the field in the Hancock County at 12-1, is back seeking her third win in her last four starts. The one alarming stat on Hostility's record is her 0-for-8 mark at six furlongs.

A win by any of the other four entrants would be a major surprise.

The 3-year-old Regal Avenger is 2 for 2 in her brief career, but her Beyer Speed Figures are more than 20 points lower than the ones of Umpateedle, Cobra Lady, and Hostility have been running lately.

Thisgirldontlaugh, idle since September, also would have to improve her Beyers substantially to contend.

Ready and Tough's only win the past two years came against $35,000 claimers in northern Kentucky.

Shannons Valentine has also raced primarily against claimers the past two years and was dull in the Hancock County two weeks ago.