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Oaks News
By: John Malone ARCADIA, CA. (February 9, 2006) A rock-solid field of eight 3-year-old fillies were entered Thursday morning for Saturday's $250,000 Gr. I Las Virgenes, which is slated to be run as the ninth race on the card at a distance of one mile. Six of the eight entrants finished either first or second in their most recent starts, all in graded stakes. Due to the quality of the field, the winner will surely become one of the favorites the first Friday in May in the Gr. I Kentucky Oaks. Amerman Racing's Balance, who was undefeated in three starts until her second-place finish last out the Gr. I Hollywood Starlet, will make her first start in almost three months when she lines up in the Las Virgenes. Trained by David Hofmans, Balance was only beaten a half length while tracking fellow Las Virgenes rival Diplomat Lady over a speed favoring race track at Hollywood Park. Balance has trained very well in the interim and races for the first time at Santa Anita. "I expect her to run well," said trainer David Hofmans. "She's trained nicely but it will not be an easy task with the quality of the field." Diplomat Lady, the aforementioned 39-1 longshot winner of the Starlet, also makes her return to the races. The daughter of Forestry enjoyed an uncontested lead in the Starlet under rider Tyler Baze, who was able to save enough for the stretch run to hold off heavily favored Balance. Diplomat Lady figures to encounter more speed on the front end today and likely will not be let loose on the front end like she was in the Starlet, however she is an improving filly with a lot of upside and is a strong contender for the Las Virgenes. Perhaps the most anticipated return to racing comes in the form of Breeder's Cup Juvenile runner up Wild Fit. Wild Fit has not raced since finishing a close-up second despite a troubled trip to Breeders' Cup Champion and Eclipse winner Folklore on October 29th at Belmont Park. After Wild Fit's impressive performance in the Breeder's Cup she was sold at auction at the Fasig Tipton/Keeneland fall sale for $3 million to the powerful owner connections of Coolmore. Wild Fit has never finished worse than second in her four-race career, which includes three graded stakes efforts. She will race for the first time for trainer Patrick Biancone after being previously trained by Jeff Mullins. The gray full sister to graded stakes winner Fusaichi Rock Star has taken to the Santa Anita surface and looked particularly impressive drilling seven furlongs in company in 1:27.40 on February 2nd in her final serious work for this. Another entrant worth noting is the Doug O'Neill-trained Itty Bitty Pretty. The El Corredor filly won the Gr. III Santa Ysabel at Santa Anita in her first try around two turns and looked impressive in doing so. Santa Anita's current leading rider Patrick Valenzuela will be aboard again in the Las Virgenes. Talullah Lula was second beaten a nose last out by the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Dance Daily in the Gr. II Santa Ynez at seven furlongs. She is another who must be considered a contender. Trained by three-time Kentucky Derby winner Bob Baffert, Talullah Lula was also a distant third behind Balance in the Sharp Cat Stakes at Hollywood Park around two turns back in late November. The one-mile set up of the Las Virgenes figures to suit the daughter of Old Trieste well. The full line up for Saturday's $250,000 Gr. I Las Virgenes from the rail out includes (with jockeys): Meetmeinthewoods (Corey Nakatani), Lake Como (Isaias Enriquez), Diplomat Lady (Tyler Baze), Balance (Victor Espinoza), Talullah Lula (Garrett Gomez), Itty Bitty Pretty (Patrick Valenzuela), Dance Daily (Javier Santiago), and Wild Fit (Alex Solis).
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