Eddy Gourmet galloped to victory in last year’s Conniver Stakes but is a longshot in this year’s event. Photo by The Racing Biz.
Conniver Stakes Particulars
- 48th running
- Maryland-bred fillies and mares 3yo and up
- 7 furlongs
- $75,000 purse
- Race 8, 3:55 p.m.
- Bias note: Only one wire to wire winner on Friday from nine races… Mid-track was the place to be: most Friday winners were three or four wide most of the way…
- Namesake: Maryland-bred Conniver earned the nod as the nation’s top handicap mare in 1948 after winning the Brooklyn, Beldame, Comely, and Vagrancy Handicaps. Bred by Alfred G. Vanderbilt and owned by Harry LaMontagne, she was slow to develop before finally hitting her stage at age four in 1948. As a broodmare, she produced stakes winners Plotter and Clandestine.
Horse by horse analysis
- Wild for Love (20-1) — Thomas Iannotti trainee looks to be up against it based on recent form… None of three to run back from last has had an impact on next out race…
- Miss Bullistic (12-1) — Runner looked to be a beast in short turf sprints, breaking her maiden and then winning the Selima for fun back in ’14, but she hasn’t tried that distance/surface combo since… She was thrashed last out in the Safely Kept, but that was a rugged group: fourth-place finisher Eloquent Tribute won next out, while winner Hot City Girl was a tough luck second against G1 rivals at Santa Anita… Figures to be well back off the early lick and hope to make a run…
- Charm City (20-1) — City Zip mare is winless on fast main tracks, though only dirt win (on slop) came at the distance… Notably, regular pilot Horacio Karamanos opts for another Eppler runner, Simmadownnow, suggesting this mare may not post…
- Candida H. (9-2) — Good second to next out stake winner Sweet on Smokey two back from a race that produced two next out winners, but follow-up was something of a disappointment, second as the fave against allowance rivals; four to run back from that latter event all have been third or worse… Seemed to have dead aim at the head of the lane last out but could not get by One Proud Gal, who was sixth as the favorite in her follow-up… Trombetta-trained daughter of Lemon Drop Kid has talent and retains the right to improve, but has been second or third in six of nine starts versus just two wins…
- Simmadownnow (15-1) — Trainer Mary Eppler’s go-to rider, Horacio Karamanos, lands here and the suspicion is that a better effort may be in the offing; she was always in and among horses last out, never having a chance to run, and Karamanos didn’t ask much of her in the lane once it was clear she wouldn’t win… Exits the same race as Candida H.; that runner finished second, while this gal was fifth… Figures a better trip in a race where runners may be well spread…
- Brenda’s Way (3-1) — Big effort last out for a runner whose in-and-out form leaves bettors flummoxed; last four Beyers working backwards are 80-35-76-32… Need-the-lead sort will go for the gusto early and should appreciate the shorter distance from last and a distance where she owns two wins… Will Eddy Gourmet provide early company? Could well be… Best efforts put her in the mix, but it’s anybody’s guess whether she’ll provide one of ’em…
- Eddy Gourmet (10-1) — Defending champ hasn’t won since posting seven-length win with career-top 90 Beyer in this event… Has won her only two tries at the distance… Has finished about three behind #9 here in each of last two… Best efforts have seen her on the engine early, and she certainly figures to be sitting at least second for the first half-mile here… Third Eppler runner in the group attracts Trevor McCarthy in the irons…
- Lionhearted Lady (5-2) — Morning line favorite took the Maryland Million Distaff back in October in only try at the distance and will have Victor Carrasco aboard… Last may be better than it looks: Ham Smith trainee lost position, and all hope, while steadying behind tiring leader Walk of Stars, then couldn’t find a seam, before running on to seventh late… Nothing wrong with prior start, a good third behind G2 winner Lady Sabelia, who would tower over this crew… Lion Hearted mare likely to let the early speed types sort it out while biding her time…
- E Dubai’s Humor (7-2) — Lightly raced E Dubai filly had dead aim last out in the What a Summer but couldn’t pass anyone, finishing third by four lengths… Owns three wins and two other placings from six career starts, including a narrow second in the Smart Halo in November ’14… Defeated #3 and #7 in the What a Summer… She defeated subsequent stake winner Sweet On Smokey two back… Will be stretching out beyond six furlongs for the first time in her career and retains regular rider Forest Boyce for trainer Donald Barr…
The picks
- #8 Lionhearted Lady looks to be in form and benefit from the setup en route to second career stakes win, which would push her earnings past $200,000.
- #5 Simmadownnow gets a cleaner trip in a field likely to be somewhat strung up and runs into the mix late.
- #9 E Dubai’s Humor didn’t fire on last out and you have to be concerned that the added ground may not help, but the talent’s there for sure.
- #4 Candida H doesn’t seem all that inclined to win races, particularly against the likes of these, but no reason she can’t run into the exotics.
