DonaldHarris

Race #6 Maiden Special Weight - Saturday, August 16

Breaking down a baby race as a clocker is a lot of fun.  It's where all those early mornings are supposed to help make sense out of a race that on paper leaves a lot of guess work. 

MOTU NUI - Toyed with a work-mate on July 31st in a drill from the blocks.  I don't have a strong opinion of the work-mate.  On the average side working six furlongs in company on August 6th.  Both drills were in blinkers.  Interesting to note Bejarano gets on board.  Pedigree note:  The mare of 'MOTU is Isla Mujeres. 'Mujeres did not come from much of a family line.  BUT, as a producer she has proved useful.  Four have raced.  All four winners.  Two stakes placed {Shapes and Shadows, Mystery Island} and one stakes winner {Isla Cozzene}.  

G'S HEAVENLY UNION - Strong effort in debut.  Broke from the rail. Took back and made a nice rally down the lane in traffic.  Ability evident.  Her last morning drill of this current sequence was a move where she finished best in company over older work-mate Tuner.  Tuner is a one paced grinder so 'G'S did what she should have done.  No question in my mind this filly deserves a lot of respect in this spot.

LU BATON - Has simply not shown enough in the a.m. to get my respect.  Adds the blinkers so she may show extra speed which could influence the pace situation.  Pace presence at the most.

TELLING STORIES - Last drill I saw from her was back at Hollywood on July 7th.  At that point she still had a lot more work to do.  She has had five works since so I do have to leave the possibility for improvement.  With that said - not on my ticket.

PALACIO DE AMOR - Totally outran what I thought she was capable of in her debut.  Gutty effort to finsih fourth at 26-1.  I still don't like her on the win end today but I have to respect her chances to sneak into the exotics picture.

COCO M -  Saw this filly work one time.  It was a gate drill on August 8th.  She was let run on a loose rein.  She struck me as an honest filly with room to grow.  Pedigree note - The dam Glitters was two for two as a two year old.  She was stakes placed and earned over $240K lifetime.  'COCO is a half to stakes winner Deputy Glitters.  'Deputy earned over $425K liftetime.

CASINO GOLD - Her final drill of the series was from the gate.  She worked in company with the blinkers on.  The final clocking was solid and she did it well in hand while heads up with a decent work-mate.  Deserves respect.  Productive series.

OUR GIRL KINZIE - Her key drill was on August 1st from the gate.  Tyler was in the irons and the blinkers were on.  She proved best of a team while showing some early lick.  I see the lower portion of the exotics as her top possibility.  Tyler goes to another horse.

WATSNEWPUSSYKAT - The horse Tyler chooses.  This is the filly I feel will get the job done today.  First caught my attention at Hollywood Park during a schooling lesson from the blocks.  Flashed a real stride.  The next time I saw her was on July 14th in her first drill over the Poly.  The time was nothing special but her gallop out was something I could not ignore.  She was still early on in her training and she was galloping out with serious run.  Quality evident.  Her next few drills all fell into line.  Working in company a couple of times and handling that the right way.  My lone concern is that she has become a little head strong.  She actually ran off one morning when Tyler lost his footing in the irons.  But I figure at 5.5 furlongs that aggressive nature is not as concerning as it will be when she starts to go longer distances.  All in all I simply think she is the most talented filly in the race. 

BOTTOM LINE:  I expect WATSNEWPUSSYKAT to win.  I'm looking at this race the same way I looked at Montana Fields before her debut.  'Montana ended up getting nailed by a couple of closers in her debut before righting the ship with a nice win in her second start.  Would like to see WATSNEWPUSSYKAT stamp herself as a stakes quality presence.