Opinion: It's time to respect And Tell Me Nolies

How And Tell Me Nolies went to post at 8-1 in the Grade 2 Chandelier on Saturday is beyond me. The daughter of the late Arrogate already had won the Del Mar Debutante (G1) against several of the same fillies, yet it was maiden winner Justique who garnered favoritism.

Even Home Cooking, whom And Tell Me Nolies defeated in their last outing, was at lower odds. The only thing that makes this make sense is that And Tell Me Nolies isn’t a flashy winner.

In her second career start, in which she broke her maiden, And Tell Me Nolies closely pressed the pace in second throughout the race, remaining in second even into the stretch. During the stretch drive, the filly dug in and battled Halosnheaven, who had finished ahead of her in their prior start, to the wire, prevailing by just a neck in a final time of 1:17.27 for the 6 1/2-furlong affair. Although the duo went fast early, the final 2 1/2 furlongs was posted in 32.18 seconds. So nothing terribly exciting there.

In the Del Mar Debutante, And Tell Me Nolies raced toward the rear of the field after getting bumped and crowded leaving the gate. The field was tightly bunched, so the filly was only about three lengths off the leader in the early stages. Home Cooking, who had stumbled and also was part of the bumper cars scenario at the start, moved up to take the lead by the half-mile call.

With Ramon Vazquez up, And Tell Me Nolies began to launch her bid in the far turn, advancing into second by the top of the stretch. With only Home Cooking between her and victory, And Tell Me Nolies closed strongly to win by a head. The final time for the seven furlongs was 1:23.29, with the final three furlongs posted in 38.93 seconds. Just like in her prior race, the field went fast early and again crawled home.

We saw much of the same in the Chandelier. Once again, And Tell Me Nolies raced toward the rear of the field without losing touch with the pacesetters, this time bobbling coming out of the gate. Entering the far turn, the filly began to advance, spinning three wide into the stretch. She then gained the lead and continued on to the wire in workmanlike fashion, winning by 3/4 length. The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:46.15. As in her last two races, the opening half was zippy but things slowed way down at the end.

If you are a regular reader of the Head-to-Head articles, then you will remember that I liked And Tell Me Nolies in the Del Mar Debutante and was obviously justified afterward. Though it's not in black and white, I liked her here, too. My only regret is that I couldn't bet the house on her.

The takeaway here is that And Tell Me Nolies does just enough to get the win. She doesn’t typically race near the lead, so the opening splits aren’t on her withers. The final times are slow, but why work harder than you have to?

So far, the 2-year old filly division lacks a standout. With that said, And Tell Me Nolies is the only filly in the division with multiple graded-stakes wins. Additionally, she’s a West Coast filly trained by Peter Miller, meaning she has been racing and winning against highly touted Bob Baffert runners. She’s not flashy by any means, but I think she has earned some respect.