By Joe Bianca
Godolphin's unblemished Alms (City Zip) will try two turns for the first time while clashing with Chad Brown-trained 'TDN Rising Star' Princesa Caroline (American Pharoah) and 12 other rivals in a full-gate renewal of the GIII Jimmy Durante S. Saturday at Del Mar.
Debuting in a Belmont turf sprint Sept. 19, Alms rallied to a convincing score over a pair of next-out winners. Wheeled back relatively quickly in the Oct. 6 GIII Matron S., the homebred was hammered down to 3-5 and ran to the money with another powerful closing score. Drilling a pair of bullet half-miles on the Fair Hill training track Nov. 10 and 17, the bay adds Lasix and will be ridden by Paco Lopez for the first time as she stretches to a mile after her two six-furlong victories.
Princesa Caroline, a half-sister to the great Lady Eli (Divine Park), debuted Sept. 28 at Belmont and was sent off at a relatively chilly 9-2, but ran like she was 1-2, professionally stalking the pace and running away in the final furlong to a 3 1/2-length success. Her 84 Beyer ranks best in the field, one point higher than Alms's Matron win, but the dark bay drew the 12 hole while her main rival is snugly parked in two.
If there is to be an upsetter of the top pair, it looks likely to be Croughavouke (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}). A second-out winner in her native land July 7 at Limerick, she was transferred from Aidan Fogarty to the Jeff Mullins barn and notched back-to-back runner-up finishes in the course-and-distance Juvenile Fillies Turf S. Sept. 2 and Surfer Girl S. Oct. 6 at Santa Anita. Dismissed at 30-1 in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, she ran a respectable sixth and shows two easy half-mile works over the Santa Anita main track in the interim.
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