Heir Kitty Set for Return in Great Lady M
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Heir Kitty, who closed out her 3-year-old season with a clear victory in the La Brea Stakes (gr. I) at Santa Anita Park, will make her first start since April when she faces an expected six other female sprinters in the $200,000 Great Lady M Stakes (gr. II) July 12 at Los Alamitos Race Course.
David Bernsen and Paul Makin's Heir Kitty will be making her first start since finishing fourth in the Madison Stakes (gr. I) April 12 on the Polytrack at Keeneland. She wound up 5 1/4 lengths behind favored winner Judy the Beauty.
In March, Heir Kitty finished second to Judy the Beauty in the Las Flores Stakes (gr. III), but the 4-year-old Wildcat Heir filly is still looking for her first win of the 2014 season. She is trained by Peter Miller, who enters the final week of Los Al's summer Thoroughbred festival four wins shy of 500 for his career.
"She had some trouble at Keeneland,'' said Miller. "She's been training very well and she's proven that she runs well fresh."
Known most recently as the A Gleam Handicap (1979-2013) when run at Hollywood Park, the Great Lady M is the seventh of eighth races. Approximate post time for the Great Lady M., which is for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs, is 5 p.m. PDT.
A week after collaborating to win the $500,500 Los Alamitos Derby (gr. II) with the undefeated Shared Belief, Hall of Famers trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and jockey Mike Smith will seek a sweep of the meet's graded races when they team with last year's Hollywood Oaks (gr. II) winner Doinghardtimeagain in the Great Lady M.
Hollendorfer won the A Gleam in consecutive years (2006-2007) with Somethinaboutlaura.
Winner of the Hollywood Oaks (gr. II) in June 2013, Doinghardtimeagain has started just once since last summer's Del Mar meet. The 4-year-old California-bred daughter of Ministers Wild Cat ran fifth June 15 in the Desert Stormer Stakes.
Fellow Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert seeks his third win in the race in the past four years with Tres Belle. Kaleem's Shah's 4-year-old War Front filly comes in off back-to-back allowance wins at Churchill Downs this spring and makes her graded stakes debut.
Baffert won the A Gleam last year with Book Review and in 2011 with Irish Gypsy.
[raceEntries date="7/12/2014" country="USA" trackid="LRC" racenumber="7"]