The filly that will go off as a deserving favorite is Brucia La Terra (10). I’m sure Barclay Tagg had the option of shipping this filly to Kentucky with stablemate Cassies Dreamer to contest the Breeders’ Cup, but he has instead elected to opt for this easier spot. If she repeats her performance in the Frizette, she will be awfully tough for this group to handle. She ran well to break her maiden at Saratoga in surprisingly fast time, and her subsequent Frizette performance proved that it was no fluke. The only knock against her is that she got a great trip last time, but it’s not as if today’s circumstances are unfavorable. Kiaran McLaughlin has entered a pair of recent maiden winners. The one that figures to attract more support is Enliven (7), but I actually prefer her stablemate Takecharge Mirella. Enliven has earned slightly faster speed figures, but I have some doubts about the overall quality of the race that she exits. A number of fillies that finished behind her returned to run much slower next time out. Furthermore, she’s been overbet in both of her appearances and she hasn’t yet lived up to expectations.

Takecharge Mirella (1) ran into the most impressive 2-year-old filly debut winner – at least on dirt – at Saratoga when she finished far behind Feedback in August. While she only won by a desperate nose in her subsequent start, I thought her performance on Sep. 2 was better than it seems. She made the first move into a pace that fell apart, and she carried a clear lead into the final furlong before understandably getting tired. Her TimeformUS Speed Figure of 97 suggests that she doesn’t need to improve that much. Some may be concerned about the distance, but she’s actually bred to relish it, as Take Charge Indy has been a 23 percent dirt route sire during his stud career.

Win: 1
Exacta Key Box: 1 with 6,7,10
Trifecta: 1 with 6,10 with ALL