Touching Promise Seeks to Defend in Ballerina

Russell J. and Lois Bennett's homebred Touching Promise (BC) is waltzing into the Oct. 12 Ballerina Stakes (gr. III) at Hastings Racecourse off two straight stakes wins at the Vancouver track, and the 5-year-old mare appears on track to defend her 2014 title.

One of two graded stakes on the Canadian Thanksgiving Day card at Hastings, the Ballerina at 1 1/8 miles drew a field of eight fillies and mares.

Trained by Barbara Heads, Touching Promise has five wins to her credit from 26 starts, including last year's Ballerina. Previous to the Ballerina, the Touch Gold mare was a front-running winner of the British Columbia Cup Distaff and Delta Colleen handicaps in her two most recent outings.

Locket, a 5-year-old Rosberg mare, looks to reach the winner's circle after four consecutive seconds in stakes, including the British Columbia Cup Distaff and Delta Colleen. She won the Colleen last year in her only stakes score to date, to go along with eight placings in stakes.

The Frank Barroby-trained mare owned by her breeders, E. M. Braithwaite and M. A. I. M. Gorash, rallied to just miss catching Dancing Promise in her two stakes wins, finishing a neck and nose back in second.

Barroby is also represented in the Ballerina by Karl Krieg's Washington homebred Lady Rosberg, who is shipping in from Emerald Downs where she accounted for two stakes wins to along with a stakes win at Turf Paradise in Arizona.