Ballerina

The female counterpart to the brilliant sprinter Lost in the Fog (Lost
Soldier) returns to the races on Sunday when HAPPY TICKET (Anet) faces six
rivals, five of which are graded stakes-winning sprinters, in the prestigious
$250,000 Ballerina S. (G1) at Saratoga. The Andrew Leggio Jr.-trained
four-year-old
has won nine of 10 lifetime starts and is three for three at the seven-furlong
Ballerina distance, but we’ll still have to give the edge to Humana Distaff H.
(G1) victress MY TRUSTY CAT (Tale of the Cat).

Second by a neck last time in the Regret S., My Trusty Cat was making her
first start in more than seven weeks and may have needed a race. With that one
under her belt, we think the David Vance-trained five-year-old is ready to run
back to her Humana-winning form, and she proved it with a bullet five furlongs
on Tuesday. Second by a head in this event last year, the bay mare was entering
that one off a win in the Honorable Miss H. (G2) over this same surface, and she
obviously relishes the track. Javier Castellano has the call.

Happy Ticket is a seven-time stakes winner from 10 career starts and enters
this one off the first loss of her career to the classy Madcap Escapade
(Hennessy) in the Princess Rooney H. (G2). The bay miss gets John Velazquez in
the irons for the Ballerina, not a bad rider change, and could step up to the
Grade 1 level with success. We just think she may be up against tougher in this
spot, and we’ll have her underneath our top selection in the gimmicks.

Third in the Honorable Miss to FOREST MUSIC (Unbridled’s Song) last time,
BANK AUDIT (Wild Rush) is the consistent sort, having missed the board just once
in her last 10 starts. The multiple Grade 2 winner enters in much the same way
as our top choice, having just received a race off a freshening, and we think
the four-year-old filly is a good use for the exotics.

VISION OF BEAUTY (Danzig) rates our longshot special based on her perfect
record at Saratoga, where she is two for two. Last out she won a seven-furlong
optional claimer over this track, and with top jockey Edgar Prado in the irons
for John Ward Jr., the bay filly could upset the Ballerina field.

Forest Music wired a tough Honorable Miss field last time, receiving a
career-best BRIS Speed rating of 109. It appears as though the vulnerable
morning-line
favorite is better suited to six furlongs though, and since she has not been
able to string together back-to-back victories recently, we don’t see her doing
so here.

The Grade 3-winning MOLTO VITA (Carson City) has not been herself in her last
two starts, uncharacteristically missing the board in both the Honorable Miss
and the Princess Rooney. She is also unplaced in four starts at Saratoga,
including a fourth-place finish in this event last year, and we’ll have to let
her beat us.

PLEASANT HOME (Seeking the Gold) has the numbers to compete with these, but
she may be outclassed. We’ll have watch her first attempt at the Grade 1 level.