Wednesday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Spirit of Esther’s turf route experience an asset in Statue of Liberty

Saratoga | Race 8 | Post Time 5:10 p.m. (ET)

I’m generally against the fillies exiting the Cupecoy’s Joy division of this series on June 14 at Aqueduct. A two-turn one-mile event is a very different sort of race than the 6-furlong configuration of that prior stakes in the series. There was also very little turf form among the runners going in, and I think this is a tougher spot. Soloshot (#3) barely got up with a perfect trip, but I’m not convinced that she’s going to appreciate the added distance.

Cat Ferrat (#5) ran one of the fastest speed figures of anyone in this field when earning a 103 TimeformUS Speed Figure on debut. However, that race came on dirt and now she’s switching to turf because she’s eligible for this series. I don’t love her immediate pedigree for grass, but her second dam Bright Abundance was a Grade 3 winner on turf. I’m also concerned that she was off the worktab for all of June. The horse trying turf for the first time that intrigues me more is Tour Jete (#1). She’s still a maiden, but she’s shown some ability in a couple of those maiden races and there’s been more intention to get her on turf. She’s by good turf influence War Dancer and has a couple of turf-winning siblings including full-brother Hari.

The other horses I want are those with prior turf route experience. The most logical of those is Bossy Jeans (#10), who was dominant beating a field of maiden claimers off the layoff last time. She’s stepping up in class here, but she had shown turf route ability as a 2-year-old and may just be stepping forward with routine improvement through maturity.

My top pick is Spirit of Esther (#7). She’s clearly moved forward since the switch to turf. She didn’t get the best trip sprinting when she first got on this surface two back, steadied back into the far turn before staying on mildly late. She’s bred to go longer, and she looked more comfortable stretching out to this distance last time. It was only a maiden claiming race, but she was facing a tougher field topped by superior 4-year-old Starts Now. This filly’s 96 TimeformUS Speed Figure is the highest turf route number in this field and she’s unlikely to be favored coming into this race as a maiden. She’s also supposed to get some pace to close into given the presence of those sprinters stretching out for the first time,