Evening Jewel returns to turf in Valentine Dancer

Evening Jewel (inside) and Ultra Blend will hook up once again in the Valentine Dancer (Benoit Photos)

Millionaire EVENING JEWEL (Northern Afleet) might have been aiming
for $30,000 more in winning purse money when scratched from Monday’s
Buena Vista H. (G2), but the 2010 California-bred Horse of the Year
appears to have landed in an appealing enough spot. The Jim
Cassidy-trained bay figures to be a solid favorite when matched against
10 state-breds in Saturday’s $100,000

Valentine Dancer H. going one mile over Santa Anita’s turf.

“We had a lot going against us,” Cassidy said in explaining the Buena
Vista scratch.

He cited high weight, the disadvantageous outside No. 11 post going
the mile distance, the rails set at 15 feet and soft turf resulting from
recent rain. Perhaps not so apparent prior to the Buena Vista was the
smasher that the returning Cozi Rosie (Pleasantly Perfect) would run in
winning by 1 1/4 lengths.

“There was certainly a sense of relief when I saw Evening Jewel
scratch out of the race,” said Mike Smith, who rode Cozi Rosie to
victory in the Buena Vista. “She’s very talented and has tactical speed.
(Evening Jewel) would have been making the first run, and I would have
had to try and run her down.”

Unzip Me defeated Evening Jewel in their last meeting in the Monrovia (Benoit Photos)

Evening Jewel has been assigned to carry 125 pounds, but so has Unzip Me, a
crack sprinter who will be making her first start at a distance beyond 6 1/2
furlongs.

The five-year-old has been on a roll of late, reaching the wire first in
eight of her last 10 starts, all on the turf ranging in distances from five to 6
1/2 furlongs. She ran against the boys two back in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint
(G2), and rallied to be third on the wire.

Unzip Me has a total of four Grade 3 wins among her 17 victories, including
the January 2 Monrovia S. (G3) over Evening Jewel, but faces a challenge when
trying two turns for the first time. Rafael Bejarano has the mount atop the
chestnut mare trained by Marty Jones.

ULTRA BLEND (Richly Blended) is seldom far away at the wire and has been
turning in some of her best performances lately. After winning Oak Tree’s
California Cup Matron at Hollywood Park in October, she returned to take the
Cat’s Cradle H. by 3 1/4 lengths against state-breds.