March 20, 2026

Meadows

Race 13

1 Mona Lisa Hill​ a 4yo mare by What The Hill made a break while sitting good on the rail in 3rd 2 back and was distanced. She came right back and trotted a good mile, staying back and closing late for 4th. She now takes the rail for the 3rd time in a row and generally she doesnt leave much at all, except for that one race where she broke when she left out. That might have stung her and I suspect they will keep her off the pace for now. She has been double digit odds in each of her last 6 races and it's been almost a year since she won a race. She doesnt show the 56 or 57 speed of the better ones in here. I view her as a ticket candidate, but she is hard to back for the win. 

2 Hill Love Me​, another 4yo mare by What The Hill who made a break in her last race, but that was also two months ago and she has been scratched sick since. She is also a slow starter, but if the pace is fast in front of her, she can close at them as she did 3 back to get 2nd money. She also shows many lines where she was well back at the wire. She is fast enough on her best day to beat these, but being that she has been off 2 months it would be hard to make a case that today is going to be her best day. She has a very outside longshot chance if she is ready to go and there are no lingering issues. The short field might help keep her closer and she can hope for some kind of speed battle in front of her to give her a target to charge at. 

3 Rt Poco's Lady​ has 3 wins in 54 lifetime starts, and one of those wins was in this class 4 back when she caught a sloppy track and the race went in slow time. 58 flat is more her speed range, and that isn't likely to be good enough to win this race, which is probably why she has 25 second and thirds to go along with those 3 wins. Yesterday we saw two horses end long losing streaks, so anything is possible with this type of class, but all things being equal, she is hunting for a slice. She will need some good luck to win this race. 

4 Rt Misty​ has done a lot of racing in her career, and possibly she is starting to feel the effects of that. She made a break in her last two starts for a purse and was forced to requalify. She also made a break 4 races back, so 3 breaks in 4 races. Even when she keeps it together, she is much slower than the contenders in this race. She is hard to see doing anything but trying to stay flat today and hoping for 4th or 4th money. 

5 Brauti for Life​ a 4yo Royalty For Life mare drops back to the level she racing at just 2 back when she was 2nd. Last time she was out and leaving well then just rolled off stride as they were about to come out of the first turn. She took off running on a full gallop and never appeared back on the screen. That break was way out of character as she had been steady and consistent for many weeks. Perhaps she just took a bad step as the track can be loose on that turn. 

​In any event, she is back in where she has been highly competitive and as such, she is the 6-5 ML choice. She did change barns after her Feb 27th start, so that could be a factor. In her first start for the new barn, she left out but was parked to the 2nd turn, cleared and went big fractions but was easily gobbled up by the winner. She also had her head sideways coming off the last turn. She needs to be seen parading this time to see if she is wearing down, or the break last time was a one off out of character thing. When she is good, she easily handles this bunch. Her 2 for 40 lifetime record also causes some concern in my mind.

6 Libbys Lucky Lady​ likes to leave and get up close, and that tactic worked 4 starts back when she wired them in decent time. That was her first start on lasix and perhaps gave her a bump. Since then she was not good enough to gain control, and not fast enough to finish well against softer than these. It's hard to make a case for her drawing outside of some leavers who are already faster and aren't rising in class as she is. She made good money racing in Michigan, but the competition at the Meadows is way tougher and that shows in her results. 

7 Misty Rose Hanover​ is a 3yo Greenshoe filly returning to the races after a winter layoff. She is a good leaver, and while not quite up to speed in the Sire Stakes, she held her own for small shares when she tried them at 2. She won her qualifier easy and with some time improvement off that plus getting older now, she has a shot to take this if they trot in the 56 or 57 range. Some dont always come back well though, so I want to see how she appears parading. She is possible if she looks the part, especially with some issues pending on the 5 horse.

8 Palm Sunday  ​is a 4yo Father Patrick mare who was shut down last May off a 57.4 win, then qualified okay in February, but raced poorly right after that and now has missed 3 weeks. Add to that the bad post today, and she looks tough to back at this stage. Not impossible though, as she has shown good speed at times. The long gaps in her schedule and only having 6 lifetime starts added to missing time between races again is concerning.

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