Adirondack J

AMERICAN GRADED STAKES
PREVIEWS

BEAUTICIAN (Dehere) is the one to beat in Wednesday’s $150,000 Adirondack S.
(G2) at Saratoga. A smashing two-length debut winner at Churchill Downs, the Ken
McPeek-trained juvenile filly recorded a commendable second to the impressive
Hot Dixie Chick (Dixie Union) when making her stakes debut in the opening-day
Schuylerville S. (G3). After rating off the pace over the speed-favoring
surface, the gray lass offered a strong move on the far turn to reach contention
and looked like a winner turning for home that afternoon. She couldn’t match
strides with the winner in the lane, but finished well to be 6 3/4 lengths clear
of third at the wire. Beautician registered a solid five-furlong work over the
track last week, owns encouraging BRIS Speed ratings in her two starts (94 and
96) and doesn’t appear to be facing any rivals of Hot Dixie Chick’s caliber in
this spot. We like her chances.

BABAI BABY (Value Plus) figures to break running under Rajiv Maragh and could
last a long way on the lead. She recorded a wire-to-wire score when making her
career bow at Belmont Park last time, holding for a neck decision, and the gray
lass appears to be training forwardly for John Kimmel, recording a five-furlong
bullet move at the Spa seven days ago. There isn’t a lot of early speed present,
and Babai Baby looms as a possible upsetter (12-1 morning line). We’ll use her
on the bottom of the exacta.

DASHING DEBBY (Medaglia d’Oro) will make her first start for new connections
(Stonestreet/Steve Asmussen) following a 10 1/4-length romp over stakes rivals
at Calder in her career debut, and the bay lass was flattered when the
fourth-place finisher in the J J’sdream S., Sweetlalabye (Sweetsouthernsaint),
captured the Desert Vixen division of the Florida Stallion S. on August 8.
She drew a tough post for her New York debut, with the rail performing poorly in
6 1/2- and seven-furlong sprints so far this meet, and figures to have a
difficult time securing a clear early lead here. We still respect the
Kentucky-bred, who is by the hottest filly sire in North America, but we’ll try
to beat her for the win.

WORSTCASESCENARIO (Forbidden Apple) probably didn’t face much when annexing
an off-the-turf maiden special weight event at Belmont last time, but we liked
the way she looked that afternoon, drawing away in effortless fashion in the
final furlongs. She shows a fast five-furlong breeze over the track in
preparation, and conditioner Richard Violette excels with young runners. The
Florida-bred filly will keep Alan Garcia in the saddle, and we give her a shot
to crash the exotics at nice odds.

Texas-bred CAMILLE’S APPEAL (Valid Expectations) won her career bow at
Delaware Park two starts back and shipped to Lone Star Park to win a restricted
stakes last time in her first attempt for Asmussen. The dark bay owns promising
BRIS Speed numbers, and she’s won on the lead and from off the pace. The
improving lass is another one to consider for the gimmicks. SASSY IMAGE (Broken
Vow) exits a good-looking 5 3/4-length maiden win at Churchill, but she was
scratched from the Schuylerville when the track came up a little off. Wet
weather looms as a definite possibility on Wednesday, but the chestnut has won
on a “good” track and is bred to handle wet tracks. Edgar Prado will pick up the
mount, and Sassy Image is eligible to outperform our expectations.

DECELERATOR (Dehere) defeated Hot Dixie Chick by a half-length when making
her career bow and followed with a narrow score in the June 27 Debutante S. (G3)
at Churchill. The D. Wayne Lukas trainee never fired when recording a dull sixth
in the Schuylerville last time, and it’s no surprise to see her Hall of Fame
trainer wheel her right back off a disappointing performance. Decelerator
remains a candidate to turn things around given her earlier exploits, but she
doesn’t appear to be heading in the right direction from our perspective.
WORSHIP THE MOON (Malibu Moon) exits a debut score over maiden special weight
rivals at Monmouth Park, but she was facing questionable company in that spot
and will be tested for class on Wednesday. We’ll watch her first start against
winners.

MARABELLE (Dixie Union) received plenty of support at the windows when making
her first career start at Monmouth last time, but she didn’t run to expectations
with a runner-up finish. The Michael Trombetta charge is eligible to improve off
that defeat, but she looks better suited for a maiden special weight event than
a graded stakes race at this point in her career. MAGICAL APPEAL (Successful
Appeal) must break from the far outside and loses the services of Prado off a
maiden special weight victory that netted only an 80 BRIS Speed rating. We can’t
recommend her chances.