Published Tuesday, August 9th, 2022   ( 1 year ago )

Nine Fillies, Mares Face Off in Thursday Feature at Del Mar

She's Bulletproof | Benoit Photo

She's Bulletproof © Benoti Photo

Nine allowance fillies and mares – all of them born in the great state of California – will meet the starter for Thursday’s Race 7, a six-panel spin for Cal-bred distaffers that carries an $82,000 purse and will serve as the feature on the eight-race card.

They’re nicely split up – three of them are 3-year-olds, three of them are 4-yer-olds and the remaining trio are mares.

There’s no standout in the lineup, but a handicapper might want to take and extra look at Barber and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ She’s Bulletproof, a bay soph by the fast horse Idiot Proof. She’s been away from the races since May 22 but has put in a series of good works for her return, first at the San Luis Rey training center where trainer Peter Miller bases many of his horses, then more recently here at Del Mar.

The filly has had a habit of breaking slowly in her four starts so far, but Miller gave her a nice gate work last Friday and perhaps that will allow her to be ready to roll come Thursday.

The conditioner, a nine-time training champ at the seaside oval, has named Florent Geroux as his rider.

Here’s the full field for the feature from the rail out with riders:

S. Tsujimoto’s Emma’s Dance (Armando Ayuso up); Barragan, Gentry or Kum, et al’s Vella (Tyler Baze);Legacy Ranch’s Uncaged Kitty (Ricky Gonzalez); Brown or Halasz’s Sheza Girly Girl (Tiago Pereira); Beerman Family Trust or Sayjay Racing’s Tizzy Twister (Hector Berrios); She’s Bulletproof; Wilson or Wilson’s Secret Square (Edwin Maldonado); Bobby and Carol Ann Grayson Living Trust’s Saturday Heist (Victor Espinoza), and Jim Borrins’ Lilly Babe (Umberto Rispoli).

Saturday Heist will have her backers in the Thursday crowd. The gray 4-year-old by the Street Cry sire Gem Heist came back off a five-month layoff in a sprint at Los Alamitos on June 25, showing speed before finishing fourth. With that one under her belt, she’s eligible to be a solid factor in the headliner.

Secret Square makes her first start since January in the dash. The 5-year-old Square Eddie mare has three wins and five seconds on her ledger and has been going through a steady set of works for trainer Kristin Mulhall.

First post on Thursday is at 2 p.m.