ANALYSIS

BEST BET: RACE 9, MONOMOY GIRL

FIRST RACE

Racing welcomes back two-time champion Monomoy Girl, who starts her season Sunday in the Grade 3, $250K Baykoa. The race is one of three stakes on the card. In the opener, CREATIVE LEGACY gets the nod off a pair of runner-up finishes for a similar price at FG. CHEWY CHEWY GOOD makes the move to two turns and gets good pedigree support for the added distance demands. JLOHR JAN is well-versed at the route distance. This marks her first start since October.

SECOND RACE

RISKY SITUATION cuts back to one turn here and looking for him to be making his case through the lane. SHARP WILLY faced steeper in his debut and earned one of this field’s better Beyer Figures. ROCK CITY ROCKET has reason to take a nice step forward in his second start since July.

THIRD RACE

CLEAR STEPS exits a productive comeback race in which she set the pace before finishing a closeup fourth in her first out since August. MANDAMUS has been racing in South Florida. She exits an optional claimer against statebreds that has produced two next-out winners, with the winner coming back to take an optional $25K claimer at GP with a Beyer of 80 and the runner-up, an optional $12.5K claimer at GP, with a Beyer of 70. This marks her first start since December. FRENCHIE FROU FROU had a blast through the lane last out when a double-digit maiden winner. She now makes her first start against winners.

FOURTH RACE

SOMETHING SUPER adds blinkers here in what is a high percentage move for Villafranco, according to statistics from Daily Racing Form. TOWN DRUNK owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure. GOLDEN TIGER is a consistent sort with natural speed.

FIFTH RACE

SCARLET POSITION hooked a stakes winner last out and might be sitting on a peak performance here, in her third start since November. BRECHIN’S COMMAND ran a credible second off the bench last out and had a less than ideal trip, according to her trouble line. TONI ANN’S MIRACLE has class appeal as one who has been facing steeper.

SIXTH RACE

A quality group of fillies has signed on for the Dixie Belle. MARIAH’S PRINCESS seems like a promising sort. She met both winners and stakes rivals for the first time last out and ran a strong second to a quality kind of winner. Before that, she accounted for a maiden special weight in good time, defeating another promising runner. GOIN’ GOOD moves to dirt after winning both her starts on turf and it’s interesting to note her dam was 4-for-8 on the grass and 5-for-11 on the main track, according to records from Daily Racing Form. This one shows some nice works on dirt at FG. ABROGATE is another runner who puts a perfect 2-for-2 record on the line. She is making her stakes debut off a sharp allowance score over the local strip. For the effort she earned what ranks as this field’s best last-race Beyer Figure.

SEVENTH RACE

Triple Crown nominee OUTASITE delivered as the 4-5 favorite last time, when winning a maiden special weight at this distance at Oaklawn. For the effort he earned what ranks as this field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure. BOB’S EDGE met winners for the first time last out and was a good third in a quick race. He’s a half-brother to 2-yearold stakes winner Watch Me Burn ($146K). Triple Crown nominee WHISKEY DOUBLE is from a mare

who was a multiple stakes winner of $243K.

EIGHTH RACE

BYE BYE J is looking to win the Downthedustyroad for the second year in a row. She’s the class of the field here as a four-time stakes winner, with some of those victories coming over open company. She removes blinkers in what is a high percentage equipment change for Asmussen, according to records from Daily Racing Form. MISS ANTIOCH was a sharp winner last out and like that the score came at this distance at Oaklawn. She’s an up and coming sort for the division. SEKANI is back with Arkansas-breds after launching her season in a tough allowance that produced entrants for the Spring Fever here Saturday. She’s a stakes winner against fellow Arkansas-breds.

NINTH RACE

MONOMOY GIRL launches her season in the Bayakoa and is the one to beat as a two-time champion who has won seven Grade 1 races to date. She is making her first start since the Breeders’ Cup Distaff and for her clear win in the Nov. 7 race she earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 100, which is the best last-race number in this spot. MONOMOY GIRL might get an ideal tracking trip behind a few of these, including FINITE. The latter, a multiple Grade 2 winner, is moving back to two turns and for the distance move figures to be closer to the pace than she has been in her sprint races. She’s also something of a fresh horse as this marks her first out since December. ISTAN COUNCIL has been knocking on the door in stakes, having run second in the She’s All In and third in the Pippin in her last two starts, between Remington and Oaklawn.

TENTH RACE

WILDWOOD’S BEAUTY is the class of the field as a four-time stakes winner who has earned more than $500K. GLAMOUR GIRL ran a fine race last out in her first start of the year and draws a useful post. AUCTION FEVER exits same race as GLAMOUR GIRL, finishing third. SHE’S ALL WOLFE is from a Grade 3 winning mare who banked $1.1M.

SCRATCH BOARD

Here are the horses entered today who have been scratched in the last 45 days and have not raced since the scratch. Definitions: Off the turf: Turf race switched to main track. Trainer: Any scratch made by a trainer, including ones for weather, medical issues, a decision not to run in a stakes race, a horse entered back the next racing day, or a conditional entry (i.e., main track only for a turf race). Vet: Injury or illness. Steward: Administrative issues like medication and eligibility.