(E/W Double Leg 2) Chad Brown has dominated this event in recent years taking out five the last ten renewals and he arrives with a typically strong three-pronged attack with Haughty, McKulick & Consumer Spending all expected to line up.
Both sporting the famous Klaravich Stables silks, the latter two both hold valid claims, however it is the former which earns our vote at 4/1 with bet365.
Haughty bolted up on her debut here over 1m (DQ’d) and she subsequently backed that up with another facile victory, making easy work of what was admittedly a below-average Maiden Special Weight event at Keeneland.
She then stepped up in grade at the Breeders Cup where she tackled the Juvenile Fillies Turf.The fact she was thrown in so deep on just her third career start suggests she is held in the highest regard and the money spoke volumes with her being clipped into around 4/1 from double that price.
Tyler Gaffalione had to use some petrol early in the race to manoeuvre from stall 11 therefore her finishing position can be marked up, and the manner in which she rattled home suggests she will have no issues getting the 10f.
As always, the form of that race has worked out well (Pizza Bianca, Cachet, Malavath, Consumer Spending), and she proved she is still in good health when bolting up on return at Penn National.
That race was always a prep for this, but she did it impressively, and the manner in which she was finishing on soft ground further enhanced her likelihood to cope with the longer journey.
Her lightly-raced profile provides optimism for improvement this year and she has been handed an ideal draw.
