The Alabama - August 20, 2011

Race Conditions:          Grade 1, 3YO Fillies, 10F, Dirt, Saratoga

Race Class Par:                            104 
Race Class Rating:                       102

Winner's Time/Quality Rating:     100

Pace:  Slow Early/Fast Middle, Slow/Average Late

Track Condition and Bias:  Not enough evidence to declare a rail bias, but the inside was certainly very good

Race Comments:  The 2011 Alabama was a solid Grade 1 race for 3 YO fillies in a deep and competitive division

Notable Performances:

1. Royal Delta  - Inside behind the leaders, saved ground the entire way, swung out 3w turning for home, wore down the leaders, ducked in through the stretch after clear and drew off.  Much like her win in the Black Eyed Susan,  Royal Delta got a perfect trip.  As I suggested in my review of the CCAO, she was a short horse and very likely to improve (and she clearly did), but I don't think there's much (if any) gap between her and It's Tricky. The combination of the trip and 10F distance was the difference today.     

2. It's Tricky  -  Needlessly kept an extra path wide on the first turn (3w) despite the fact that the inside part of the track seemed to be advantageous, followed Plum Pretty well out on the track in the back stretch, was moved a bit prematurely to challenge her 2w on the second turn, battled gamely until the 1/8th pole, but could not hold off the winner.  Despite this result and the improvement from Royal Delta, I still believe It's Tricky may be the most talented 3YO filly in the country with a more neutral trip (especially between 8F-9F).  At the very least, the top two are much closer than the margin in this race. 

3. Pinch Pie - Rail first turn, moved out to about 3w backstretch, inside off the rail second turn about 2w, picked up a tiring Plum Pretty for 3rd.

4. Plum Pretty - Set the pace out on the track, 2w then inside but off the rail first turn, set a comfortable pace about 3w in the backstretch, was joined by It's Tricky while on the inside heading into the second turn, battled until the 1/8th pole and tired. Plum Pretty is a high quality filly, she just doesn't want to go this far.

5.  St. John's River - rated 2w first turn, was taken well out on the track on the backstretch, 3w second turn, could not rally.  Not many horses ran well on the outside today and the fast middle didn't make it much easier to gain. While it's not clear there was strong inside bias because of the small sample, it might make sense to give St. John's River a pass for this race if she faces weaker. 

6. Inglorious -  rated 3w first turn,  was taken well out on the track in the backstretch, could not keep up on the second turn, moved inside, but kept dropping back.  Inglorious's dirt form was somewhat suspect coming into this race, but I certainly didn't expect something this bad.