Spinaway J

AMERICAN
GRADED STAKES PREVIEWS

Nine talented juvenile fillies will travel seven furlongs in the $300,000
Spinaway S. (G1) at Saratoga on Saturday, led by superb Schuylerville S. (G3)
romper HOT DIXIE CHICK (Dixie Union). The Steve Asmussen filly ran second in her
debut over a sloppy oval at Churchill Downs and has really turned it on since,
earning BRIS Speed numbers of 110 and 104 in her last two starts. The fleet dark
bay has excellent speed and should be rolling late from the rail under Robby
Albarado, but we’ll try for an upset.

WORSTCASESCENARIO (Forbidden Apple) was a dominant, 4 1/4-length heroine of
the Adirondack S. (G2) and rates the top pick in here for Richard Violette. The
modestly-bred filly crushed a Belmont maiden group in a race that was taken off
the sod and proved that it was no fluke last out, when she rolled home at big
odds under Alan Garcia. The bay has done nothing wrong to date, has excellent
tactical speed and a strong closing kick, as well.

Hot Dixie Chick is sure to be bet heavily in here and could surely run this
field off their feet with any improvement, but she’ll be stretching out in
ground and could have her hand forced early from the rail, which can always be a
tricky place to start from out of the chute.

BEAUTICIAN (Dehere) was easily second best in the Schuylerville most recently
for Ken McPeek and the filly has plenty of room for improvement in her third
career try. The talented gray has done nothing wrong to date, and if the top two
falter a little bit, the Kentucky-bred could be one to capitalize from off the
pace beneath Kent Desormeaux.

SASSY IMAGE (Broken Vow) took a lot of money in the Adirondack, and
deservedly so, as the chestnut rallied well to be a clear second. The
Kentucky-bred chestnut has improved nicely since finishing third in her debut
and she could get a nice pace at which to run at, so we’ll include the lass in
our exotics for a trainer (Dale Romans) who has had a solid Saratoga meet.

SNAP HAPPY (Lion Heart) rallied from well back to top a decent maiden group
at first asking for trainer Dallas Stewart and deserves a long look in this one.
The Kentucky-bred bay hails from a barn that doesn’t always fire with juveniles
at first asking but get better with a start under their belts, and if that is
the case, this one should be rolling late for a possible piece under Calvin
Borel. OPUS A (Read the Footnotes) was backed in her debut and delivered for
Violette, rallying from well to register a solid win over a more experienced
group. The Empire State-bred has reportedly been impressive in her morning
drills since and we love the ability of Violette to get his youngsters cranked
up for these types of events. Consider her for the gimmicks.

BICKERSONS (Silver Deputy) flashed brilliant speed in dominating a maiden
field last out at Monmouth Park for Kelly Breen. The intriguing longshot is bred
to be a speed merchant and has been working well since her win, so we wouldn’t
be surprised to see the Ontario-bred taking the early lead against this cast.
After that, though, we’re not sure. John Velazquez will ride. New York-bred
maiden winner SKY FEVER (Roaring Fever) showed excellent improvement from start
one to two for Juan Ortiz, but we would be surprised if the filly has anything
left late against this strong field. Adirondack third MAGIC APPEAL (Successful
Appeal) needs to get faster in a hurry for conditioner Stanley Hough in order to
challenge the top ones in this affair.