FILLY & MARE TURF DIARY
APRIL 28, 2005
by Jennifer Caldwell
MEGAHERTZ (GB) (Pivotal) is tops in her division. Period.
The veteran mare has compiled a 30-12-5-5 lifetime record and has been on a
tear lately. Starting with last year, Megahertz has four wins and two seconds
from eight turf races at varying distances. Her only two off-the-board placings
came when she was disqualified from first in the Santa Ana H. (G2) last March
and placed seventh, then later in the year when she ran 11th in the Breeders’ Cup
Filly & Mare Turf (G1) off a five-month layoff. The chestnut can’t seem to perform on Breeders’ Cup day,
as evidenced by her fifth-place in the 2003 edition of the championship event,
but she’s never been better.
Trained by Bobby Frankel, the six-year-old mare made her seasonal bow in the
Santa Ana and this time stayed up as the winner, earning a nice 102 BRIS
Speed rating. She repeated in the Santa Barbara H. (G2) on April 17, utilizing her patented late kick
by rallying
from last. Megahertz passed all her rivals in the stretch and powered home a three-quarter of a
length winner. Jockey Alex Solis, who has won aboard her the past four times he’s been in the
saddle, commented on the diminutive mare’s late kick.
“That’s her, being back there,” he said after the Santa Barbara. “You can’t
fight her. I never have ridden a horse that has that kind of kick. It’s
incredible. You really have to understand her, leave her alone and let her do
her thing. She gets me worried too, but I trust what she’s doing the whole race.
I do my stuff on the backside and go from there.”
If Solis follows that same strategy all year, Megahertz will definitely see
the winner’s circle many more times this campaign and could finally earn
Breeders’ Cup glory on October 29.
Grade 1 winner INTERCONTINENTAL (GB) (Danehill) is another top performer from Frankel’s
shedrow. The bay mare is also used to winning at varying distances, ranging from
seven furlongs to 1 1/16 miles, and proved she hasn’t lost a step after
returning from a near five-month layoff to defend her title in the Jenny Wiley
S. (G3) at Keeneland on April 17. The five-year-old fought jockey Jerry Bailey
in the opening furlongs and, once she got her own way, moved to the front. After
that, she settled down and proceeded to score by a length. A 98 Speed rating
awaited the mare for the win and she can continue to improve as the year
progresses.
PICKLE (GB) (Piccolo) was something of a surprise in Saturday’s Wilshire H.
(G3) on Hollywood Park’s opening weekend. The Sanford Shulman trainee made her
first U.S. start a winning one in an allowance at Bay Meadows in March, then stayed
on that course to run third by only a neck in the Miss America H. in her second
start stateside. Pickle was
attempting her first graded stakes in the Wilshire and, after a wide trip,
proved best by a rallying nose. Both wins have come at a mile, and Pickle is one to watch.
Sunday’s Fran’s Valentine S. during Hollywood Park’s California Gold Rush Day
was, quite appropriately, won by VALENTINE DANCER (In Excess [Ire]). The
five-year-old, a repeat winner of the Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf in
late January, was exiting a good third to Megahertz in the Santa Ana prior to
Sunday’s 8 1/2-furlong test. She became just the fifth California-bred mare to
surpass the $1 million mark in earnings and is now closing in on Fran’s Valentine’s,
who is the leading California-bred distaffer with earnings of $1,375,465.
PATH OF THUNDER (Thunder Gulch) moved up significantly when taking an
allowance at Keeneland on April 14. The Todd Pletcher trainee tracked in second
throughout the 1 1/8-mile test before inching her way to the front and drawing
clear by 3 3/4 lengths. That was her third straight win and second consecutive
turf victory. The four-year-old earned the best Speed number (102) of her career
in that one and is eligible to move up in her next start.