Pretty City Dancer Heads Davona Dale

Grade 1-winner Pretty City Dancer will take on the grade 2-winning Miss Sky Warrior in the $200,000 Davona Dale (G2) at Gulfstream Park March 4.

John Oxley's Pretty City Dancer finished a sharp second in her return in the Feb. 4 Forward Gal Stakes (G2), her first start since winning in a dead heat with Sweet Lorretta in the Spinaway Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course in September.

Arlene's Sun Star Stable's homebred Miss Sky Warrior is unraced since winning the Nov. 26 Demoiselle Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Those two and 12 others were entered in the Davona Dale, which will run as the 10th race on a 13-race program that features the $400,000 XpressBet Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2).

Trainer Mark Casse gave Pretty City Dancer rest after the Spinaway to recover from a minor ankle injury she sustained a few weeks after that race. Prior to the Spinaway, Pretty City Dancer had won two of three starts, including the Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs in her stakes debut.

The Tapit   filly finished with good energy in the seven-furlong Forward Gal, beaten just a half-length by Tequilita.

Norman Casse, assistant to Mark Casse, said there will be a significant equipment change made for Pretty City Dancer in the Davona Dale, a race that marks her first start beyond seven furlongs. 

"Her big issue is that she has a tendency to hang and lay on horses and not finish the races as strongly as she is capable of," Norman Casse said. "We're putting on blinkers for the first time in a race. She's worked two times with those since the Forward Gal and has worked really well and responded well.

"She may show more speed with the blinkers," he added. "We're hoping she shows a little more speed out of the gate. The problem with Pretty City Dancer is that she doesn't get away from the gate that well. We're hoping that blinkers focus her up just a little bit more and that she will show a little more early speed."

Julien Leparoux rides Pretty City Dancer, who drew post 12.

The Casse barn will also send out Gary Barber's Summer Luck, a daughter of Lookin At Lucky  . The Kentucky-bred finished fourth in the Forward Gal, her graded stakes debut, beaten less than three lengths, after racing five-wide into the stretch. She is a winner of a one-mile maiden special weight at Churchill from four career starts.

"We think she actually ran a really sneaky good race in the Forward Gal. She had a really tough trip," Casse said. "She's a horse we really hold in high regard. We compare her to Pretty City Dancer—we think she is that good. With a little luck she could be right there as well.

"Summer Luck doesn't have that kick of speed away from the gate those other fillies she has been running against do," he continued. "But we don't want to change anything with her. That's her most effective way of running."

Florent Geroux will ride Summer Luck from the rail.

Miss Sky Warrior, a daughter of First Samurai  , is a winner of three of four lifetime starts. Trained by Kelly Breen, Miss Sky Warrior used her high cruising speed to wire the field in a six-furlong race at Parx Racing, which she won by seven lengths. She tackled stakes company three weeks later and came away with a win in the Tempted Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct. She concluded her juvenile season with her 1 1/8-mile Demoiselle score, her first start around two turns. That day she set the pace and hung on for a half-length victory.

The Kentucky-bred has been training smartly for her season debut, and owns four bullet works from nine breezes, dating back to Dec. 31.

"She is doing great. We're just trying to keep her fit," Breen said. "She was fit and had been running well and, hopefully, after a little bit of time in between races, she comes back as a 3-year-old ready to run. She's just an impressive horse. All her races are good. We're trying to get her to stretch out and we're hoping she can do as well as she has done so far at doing that."

Paco Lopez, aboard for all of Miss Sky Warrior's races, has the mount from post 7.

The Chad Brown-trained Eloquent Riddle makes her 3-year-old debut for owner and breeder Juddmonte Farms. A flashy maiden winner last September at Belmont Park, the daughter of Harlan's Holiday was third in the Tempted Stakes (G3) and second in Aqueduct's Furlough Stakes, her most recent start, last November.