Well Kept 9-5 in Compact Dearly Precious
Saturday's $75,000 Dearly Precious at
Aqueduct Racetrack will be a test of class for its five talented
fillies, who have combined for an 8-4-2 record from 16 starts.
Favored
at 9-5 in the six-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies, which will be
contested as race 4 on the 10-race card, is Well Kept, most recently
second to the undefeated Agave Kiss in the Big A's Ruthless on January
14.
"She came out of that last race very well after
running up against a really nice, tough filly," said trainer Leah
Gyarmati of the compact bay daughter of Henny Hughes. "I expect her to
show up again Saturday, like she always does."
No worse
than third in five starts, Well Kept closed out her 2011 campaign with
the narrowest of losses to Dance to Bristol in the Pandera overnight
stakes over a sloppy track on December 7. Prior to that, she won an
optional claimer in the mud on the Big A's main track November 17 and
scored by four lengths in a 5 ½-furlong maiden race at Belmont Park on
September 25, having finished third in her debut at Saratoga Race
Course.
"She's never had a bad race," said Gyarmati of
the granddaughter of champion Safely Kept. "She always tries, and always
gives 100 percent. She's already done a lot."
Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride the Treadway Racing Stable color-bearer from post position 3.
The
Tony Dutrow-trained Singlet has made a pair of victorious appearances
in New York, breaking her maiden at Saratoga on August 5 and returning
to post an eye-catching six-length win in the Xtra Heat at Aqueduct on
January 5. In between, the Real Quiet filly won an allowance at Parx
Racing and finished second as the favorite in the NATC Futurity at
Monmouth Park on September 24.
"We were very happy to
see such an improvement in her last race," said Dutrow of Singlet's
performance in the Xtra Heat, in which she ran the six furlongs in
1:11.73 and defeated a pair of next-out winners. "She's a big, beautiful
filly and has always displayed a lot of talent, but she still has a lot
to prove. Let's see how much class she possesses, and see how good she
is."
As the 2-1 second choice on the morning line and
high weight at 122 pounds, Singlet will leave from post position 4 with
Cornelio Velasquez aboard.
Third in the Ruthless, and
third choice on the morning line at 5-2, is Corderosa. The Aldebaran
filly, a 5 ¼-length winner of her debut on December 7, closed widest of
all from midpack to finish 4 ¾ lengths behind Agave Kiss. Trained by
David Donk for William Punk, Jr. and Philip DiLeo, Corderosa will be
ridden by Junior Alvarado from the rail.
Completing the
field is a pair of recent maiden winners - WinStar Farm's Lisa T.
(half-sister to 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver) who won going a
mile on December 30 at Aqueduct in her third start, and Marvelous
Margaret, who scored second time out at six furlongs on January 25.
The field for the $75,000 Dearly Precious:
|
PP |
Horse |
Jockey |
Wgt |
Trainer |
Odds |
|
1 |
Corderosa (KY) |
J Alvarado |
116 |
D G Donk |
5-2 |
|
2 |
Lisa T. (KY) |
A Garcia |
116 |
T A Pletcher |
8-1 |
|
3 |
Well Kept (KY) |
I Ortiz, Jr. |
118 |
L Gyarmati |
9-5 |
|
4 |
Singlet (FL) |
C H Velasquez |
122 |
A W Dutrow |
2-1 |
|
5 |
Marvelous Margaret (FL) |
R Curatolo |
116 |
C F Martin |
12-1 |