Sweet Seventeen to try two turns for the first time in the Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct
The newly turned 3-year-old Graham Motion trained filly, Sweet Seventeen, went on to win her debut race at Laurel Park race course back in September 2011, where against 9 other juvenile fillies, Sweet Seventeen powered down the stretch to win the five and a half furlong dash on dirt, in 1 minute and 6.10 seconds.
The Mrs. John Oxley owned filly was then pointed towards an allowance race at Keeneland on 7 October, 2011, to run over the venue’s synthetic surface, going at about seven furlongs in distance.
The Kentucky bred daughter of Hard Spun, out of mare Play Ballado by Saint Ballado, Sweet Seventeen downed Ready to Unleash and Fan Out, who finished second and third, respectively, while the winner swept home the spoils in 1 minute and 24.04 seconds.
The bay filly was then sent further north to participate in the Glorious Song Stakes over at Woodbine’s synthetic surface, over a distance of seven furlongs on 13 November, 2011.
Ridden by jockey Patrick Husbands, Sweet Seventeen ran a solid race, but couldn’t overhaul the front running filly, Tu Endie Wei, and weakened just before the finish line to give way and finish second.
Sweet Seventeen is now provided with the opportunity to show that she is just not a sprint horse, and can also take on stretched out distances in her sophomore season.
Her first test to go around two turns will be in the $100,000 Busanda Stakes, to be held at Aqueduct race course on 7 January, 2012, over a distance of 1 mile and 70 yards, a race that is restricted for 3-year-old fillies.
“I’ve been apprehensive about stretching her out before now because she’s always been sharp in her races,” Motion said.
“But I think now is the time to do it. I like the post, I like the race, she certainly handles dirt okay.”
Graham Motion has carefully mapped out a plan for Sweet Seventeen, and instead of pushing her to run against better competition at Gulfstream, Motion has opted for a more subtle approach, easing Sweet Seventeen into stakes company by keeping her in the Northeast for the winter.
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