By Joe Bianca
Carl R. Moore Management's speedball Finley'sluckycharm (Twirling Candy), the victress of five of six career starts, suffered her only defeat when tried in graded stakes company last winter. She will try to avenge that loss and stamp herself as a potential 2017 standout in a murky division when she takes on seven rivals in the GI La Brea S. at Santa Anita.
Bought for $77,000 as a Keeneland September yearling, the dark bay debuted a winner exactly one year ago in a muddy off-the-turf affair at Fair Grounds. Following that up with an optional claiming victory Jan. 18 at Oaklawn, the William Bret Calhoun trainee was ambitiously spotted in the two-turn GII Rachel Alexandra S. Feb. 20 in New Orleans and dueled on an enervating pace before retreating to finish seventh.
Returning from over seven months on the bench Sept. 29 at Churchill, Finley'sluckycharm romped by 7 1/4 lengths in an off-the-turf allowance and repeated with two more blowout wins under the Twin Spires, most recently cruising to an 8 1/2-length rout with a 102 Beyer in the Dream Supreme S. Nov. 25.
The slight morning line favorite is Lightstream (Harlan's Holiday), who looks for her first top-level score after narrowly missing when second in the GI Test S. Aug. 6 at Saratoga. Last seen annexing the GII Raven Run S. Oct. 22 at Keeneland, the late-running bay will likely need someone to soften up Finley'sluckycharm early on to have her best shot.
DP Racing's lightly-raced Perfect Pic (Candy Ride {Arg}) adds some spark to the field. A dominant 10 1/4-length winner first out Aug. 26 at Del Mar, the bay was a troubled second in a Los Alamitos optional claimer Sept. 17 before running a close third in the Oct. 9 GIII L.A. Woman S. here Oct. 9. Freshened up since then, the $110,000 KEESEP purchase does not need to move forward much to have a chance and draws well to stalk and get first run on the speed from the outside stall.
Nick Alexander's homebred Enola Gray (Grazen) returns to the scene of her Apr. 10 16 1/4-length first-out tour de force and will look to rebound from a loss at 1-10 in the state-bred Betty Grable S. Nov. 13 at Del Mar. The upsetter that day, Chao Chom (Tizbud) re-opposes here.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
