Dancinwiththestarz is one of four entrants in Saturday’s $150,000 Lismore Stake for three-year-old pacing fillies at Yonkers Raceway
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The winner of both her races so far in 2010 is owned by Skip and Wendy Spring’s W Springtime Stable, along with their friend, Shannon Brott. The filly was a $39,000 purchase at the Standardbred Horse Sale.
The connections of Dancinwiththestarz decided to bypass last weekend’s James M. Lynch Memorial at Pocono Downs, won by Fancy Filly, to focus on the Lismore. Eliminations for the Lismore were scheduled for last weekend, as well, but were unnecessary because of the number of entries.
“I was sweating bullets there for a while,” Skip Spring said, referring to wondering if the race would be contested. “I kind of wanted to try her on a half-mile track and we figured we’d see what fillies go to the Lynch. We figured we’d skip the Lynch and go to the Lismore. When only four horses dropped in, we were sweating bullets, but we made the final and we’ll be in it.”
The daughter of Four Starzzz Shark-So Western won nine of 12 races last year, including the Pennsylvania Sires Stakes championship, and failed to get a cheque in only one race, the $810,300 Shes A Great Lady Stake at Mohawk Raceway.
“We found out after the race that she bled (exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage),” Spring said. “We had a problem and we addressed the problem (the filly is now on Lasix). That messed us up a couple starts, but we got her back on track and raced her easy at the end of last year and put her away in good shape. She’s come back really strong and really good this year.”
The Lismore will be Dancinwiththestarz’s first start for money on a half-mile track, but that doesn’t concern her connections.
“Well, we trained her by herself on the half at Saratoga in 1:54.2, so that should give you some idea (of how she will handle a smaller track),” Spring said. “She did it handily and last week we went up to Vernon and put a tightener in her; 1:52 flat up there.
“Now we’re ready to go on to the Lismore. I took the same route as with Bunny (Bunny Lake, 2001 Horse of the Year, also owned by the Springs and their trainer John Stark, Jr.). The Pennsylvania Sires Stakes instead of the Fan Hanover (in late June), then we jump in with the big girls after that. We go to the Tarport Hap, the Mistletoe Shalee, the Valley Forge, Nadia Lobell, Jugette, Breeders Crown and Lady Maud. I figure she’ll have about 17 starts.”
Dancinwiththestarz, who is a half sister to 2003 Sweetheart winner So Artsi, raced at seven different tracks last year and was unfazed by the regular shipping and changing locales.
“She’s a good shipper, a nice horse, we haven’t had any problems with her outside of the bleeding problem,” Spring said.
“She loves being turned out,” Wendy Spring said, “every morning.”
In a four-horse race, Dancinwiththestarz probably won’t need many dance moves, but she can go with the flow as it develops.
“She can go to the front and cut it or she can come off the pace,” Skip Spring said. “I don’t know which way she prefers yet. Bunny Lake loved Yonkers (winning 9-of-9 at the track) and I hope this one will, too, but we haven’t raced her there yet.”
Wendy Spring, who shared her husband’s disappointment with the small Lismore field, thinks the switch to a half-mile track should help their filly.
“She trains on a half, she trains every day on a half her whole life,” she said. “There were just too many good races all at the same time, the Empire Breeders Cup, the Lynch and then the regular sire stakes that all the horses are eligible to.”
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.