Horses to Watch: Exciting Pletcher filly ends long layoff
In this biweekly series, racing analyst Keeler Johnson shares promising horses from his handicapping watch list, reviewing runners who have recently caught his eye and previewing horses scheduled to run back in the near future.
Upcoming entries
Bandita
It’s been ages since Bandita debuted with a stellar victory in a seven-furlong maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park. On Jan. 29, 2023, the daughter of Gun Runner led all the way and finished fast to win wrapped up by 8 3/4 lengths.
Unfortunately, Bandita hasn’t run since then. She was entered a couple of times last fall, but nothing came of those entries, and she soon disappeared from the work tab.
On the bright side, Bandita returned to serious training in June and has put together a sharp series of workouts in preparation for Saturday’s third race at Saratoga, a six-furlong allowance (post time 1:40 p.m. EDT). Bandita is the 6-5 morning line favorite and has five-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. named to ride, so expectations are surely high for this Todd Pletcher-trained 4-year-old. If she picks up where she left off, Bandita might yet develop into a stakes horse.
There’s a reason My Boy Prince is the 7-5 morning-line favorite to defeat a dozen rivals in Saturday’s 11th race at Woodbine, the King’s Plate (post time 6:10 p.m.). He repeatedly has held his own against tough competition, including over Woodbine’s synthetic Tapeta track.
Look at My Boy Prince’s accomplishments. He’s 5-for-6 over the Woodbine Tapeta, with victories in the Plate Trial, Queenston, King Corrie and Simcoe to his credit. He also has run well against top-tier competition on grass, finishing second in the Summer (G1) and third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1).
My Boy Prince is so talented that he was able to rear at the start of the Plate Trial and still rally to win by 1 1/4 lengths. Under Woodbine’s leading jockey Sahin Civaci, a 27 percent winner this meet, My Boy Prince looks tough to beat in the King’s Plate, which, like the Plate Trial, is restricted to horses foaled in Canada.
She Feels Pretty has made a habit of performing with aplomb against top-tier competition. At Woodbine last fall, she launched a strong rally to dominate the one-mile Natalma (G1) by 4 1/4 lengths. She followed up with a third-place finish by half a length in the one-mile Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1).
She Feels Pretty opened 2024 with a 5 3/4-length romp in the ungraded Hilltop racing one mile, stamping her as an odds-on favorite to take the 1 3/16-mile Belmont Oaks (G1). She failed to win, but it’s hard to knock her performance as she finished third by three-quarters of a length against Cinderella’s Dream, who returned to win the Saratoga Oaks (G2).
Here is my complete, updated list of Horses to Watch.