Unfazed fits well in turf allowance

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Unfazed kicked off her 2017 season with a solid second-place finish in a first-level allowance going one mile on the Tampa Bay Downs turf course last month and will look to earn her first win of the year in an identical race here Friday. The $22,500 allowance drew a full field of 10 older fillies and mares and is the ninth and final race on the card.

Unfazed has made only three starts, the fewest in this field, but has run well in all of them, with one win and a pair of runner-up finishes for trainer Arnaud Delacour and the Lael Stables of Roy and Gretchen Jackson, who also bred the daughter of Elusive Quality. In her 2017 debut Feb. 11, she raced in midpack and finished 1 1/4 lengths behind the favored Width while making her first start in almost 10 months.

“I like the filly, and she’s been training really well,” Delacour said. “I’m happy that she has a race under her belt, and she ran a very good race last time, I thought.”

Unfazed will be getting Lasix for the first time Friday after showing just a trace of blood following her comeback race, and Delacour said the diuretic should help the stocky filly. Unfazed drew the No. 7 post under leading rider Daniel Centeno.

The field also includes Lottie, who drew the outside post for jockey Jesus Castanon and trainer Graham Motion. Lottie has one win from six starts and hasn’t raced since finishing fifth, beaten 4 1/2 lengths by Sweet Victory, in the $194,300 Penn Oaks last June. She earned a 78 Beyer Speed Figure in that race, tying Unfazed for the highest last-race mark in this field.

Delacour and Centeno also will partner with Special Envoy in race 5, an optional $62,500 claimer for older horses going 1 1/16 miles on turf. The $24,500 race drew a field of seven.

Special Envoy hasn’t raced since finishing a close second to Rose Brier in the $60,000 Edward P. Evans Stakes for Virginia-breds at Pimlico last June, and Delacour said such statebred stakes races are targets for the 6-year-old gelding this year. Special Envoy has been training steadily at the Classic Mile in Ocala, Fla.

“We really freshened him up,” Delacour said. “He’s been working very well, but it’s a tough race, and he may need the race.”

Irish Strait, a 5-year-old gelding going for Motion and Castanon, will be favored after finishing third, beaten a length by Inspector Lynley, in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes here Feb. 11, his first start since November. Irish Strait earned a 101 Beyer that is easily the highest last-race mark in this field.

Noble Thought, trained by Malcolm Pierce, will be seeking his third straight when as he steps up in class following victories in $16,000 and $32,000 optional claimers here. He loses Castanon but picks up Ronnie Allen Jr., who is second in the local rider standings.