West Coast shippers have upper hand in Bourbonette

The last time shippers from Santa Anita raced in the Bourbonette Breeders' Cup at Turfway Park, they dominated - Class Above and Susan's Angel finished one-two in the 2004 renewal. Two years later, similar results could occur when West Coast invaders Sabatini and Dance Daily race in Saturday's $150,000 Bourbonette Breeders Cup, one of four undercard stakes at Turfway on a program topped by the Grade 2 Lane's End. The Bourbonette has been elevated to Grade 3 status this year.

have lined up against some of the best 3-year-old fillies in the country. Dance Daily defeated Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Folklore in the Grade 2 Santa Ynez earlier this year, and later ran a distant seventh behind early Kentucky Oaks favorites Balance and Wild Fit in the Grade 1 Las Virgenes. Sabatini is also battle-tested, having run third in the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet Dec. 18 and second in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Jan. 7 after winning her maiden by five lengths at Churchill Downs last fall.

Sabatini has been unraced since, a layoff designed to leave her fresh for the spring, trainer Patrick Biancone said.

"You cannot just run, run, run," he said.

Shipped to Kentucky in midwinter, she has recorded five breezes over Turfway's Polytrack surface since late February, twice recording bullets. Julien Leparoux, the leading rider at Turfway Park, has the mount.

Dance Daily, who, like Sabatini, is a daughter of Five Star Day, has stayed more active in recent months. After finishing seventh in the Las Virgenes on Feb. 11, she rebounded with a competitive third in the 6 1/2-furlong La Habra Stakes on turf at Santa Anita on March 5.

Although experienced, she has not finished better than fifth in four races at a mile or longer. Julio Garcia rides for trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

Other notable starters in the Bourbonette include , a winner of two of three starts; Lemons Forever, a fast allowance winner at Oaklawn on Feb. 9; Lady Danza, who makes her seasonal debut after a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Golden Rod; Capozzene, a stakes-winning filly from the Todd Pletcher stable; and the locally based Classical Ryder, who pushed her record to 4 for 4 with a victory in the Valdale Stakes at Turfway on Feb 25.