Stud TNT’s 4-year-old filly
Dust and Diamonds was last seen finishing
second to likely Eclipse champion Groupie Doll in the $1 million
Breeders’ Filly & Mare Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 3 and comes
back Saturday as the solid choice in the $100,000 Adena Springs Sugar
Swirl Stakes (G3) sporting new colors.
The daughter of Vindication was bred and raced by Padua Stable and
trained by Steve Asmussen through the Breeders’ Cup, and sold two days
later for $900,000 to Brazil-based Stud TNT. She is now in the care of
perennial Gulfstream leading trainer Todd Pletcher with jockey John
Velazquez to ride Saturday in the six-furlong Sugar Swirl facing six
rival fillies and mares.
A winner of five of 10 starts and never off the board, Dust and
Diamonds was well-backed going into the seven-furlong Filly and Mare
Sprint after winning her three previous starts, most notably the Gallant
Bloom Handicap (G2) at Belmont Park on Sept. 22.
Trainer Wayne Catalano entered a pair of fillies with Peachtree
Stable’s 3-year-old Sacristy a definite starter and James F. Miller’s
4-year-old Honey Chile ‘taking a look’ at the race. Jockey Jose Lezcano
rides Sacristy and Jeffrey Sanchez is named on Honey Chile.
“After the Acorn we decided she needed to freshen up and she came
back with the two good races,” said Catalano of Sacristy. “I still think
she’ll go up to a mile. She seems to handle any surface and had a
couple of good works since we got here. We’ll take a look at the race
and see if we run Honey Chile or look for an allowance race.” Honey
Chile is a daughter of Invisible Ink that started here three times last
winter, winning an allowance race in December, finishing second in the
Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Sprint in January and third in the
Lady’s Turf Sprint in early March. A two-time allowance winner at
Arlington Park, Honey Chile hasn’t been out since checking in seventh in
the Ontario Fashion Stakes (G3) at Woodbine on Nov. 4.
Trainer Marty Wolfson has entered three in the Sugar Swirl – Miller
Racing LLC’s pair of 6-year-old Golden Mystery, Luis Saez: and
4-year-old Spectacular Sky, Elvis Trujillo; and Thoroughbred Futures
Racing’s 4-year-old Nakano, Javier Castellano.
“I’m most likely going to run only two,” said Wolfson. “I’ll look at
the race and see how it shapes up. Nakano is a closer and the other two
are speed. Spectacular Sky might be the class. I really like her, but I
think she likes 6 ½ or seven furlongs better. Golden Mystery likes the
six furlongs.”
A daughter of Sky Mesa, Spectacular Sky won three straight sprints
at Calder this summer, including two minor stakes. She will bid to
bounce back from a sixth-place finish in her last start when trying a
mile at Churchill Downs in the Chilukki Stakes (G2) on Nov. 3 after
setting the pace for a half-mile in the one-turn race. A chestnut
daughter of Awesome Again, Golden Mystery finished a game second to 2011
Eclipse champion filly Musical Romance in the Mike Sherman Memorial at
Calder in early October with Nakano third. Golden Mystery came back
against colts in the Jack Dudley Sprint at Calder on Nov. 10 and
finished a respectable fourth.
Finally, James Spence’s 3-year-old filly Hearts of Red completes the
field with jockey Robby Albarado in the saddle for trainer Ralph Nicks.
The Kentucky homebred daughter of Lion Heart just missed when second by
a half-length last out in the Dream Supreme Stakes at Belmont Park on
Oct. 7 after a sharp allowance score at Saratoga in late August.