Well, it was a disappointing race at Penn National. Sassy was excellent in the paddock, and she was even saddled standing in the little stall for the first time in a long while. She didn’t move a muscle, which was much nicer than her previous kicking.

She warmed up fine, broke fine, and looked to be in a good position. As they came around the far turn, which was apparently a little boggy from the recent rain, she seemed to fade completely. The jockey said it felt like she was spinning her wheels and she couldn’t grab the track. Most of the rest of the field didn’t appear to have the same problem, and she really dropped back.

As they came out of the turn, the jockey encouraged her to pick it up and she passed two horses, but was in no position to be competitive so we ended up with 8th.

According to the jockey, she still had a lot left in her at the end of the race, which is a bit hard to understand as we’d expect that she might have put some more umph into the race itself. But this is apparently a decent indicator that she may be better suited for distance. She appears to have a harder time with the very fast splits, but she has a lot of endurance in general.

As a result we are going try her long. Sassy is entered into a 1 mile race on Monday July 14th at PARX.

We hope that this suits her running style better. This race is for PA bred fillies 3 years old and up.

Race: 9 – 4:01 PM Exacta / Trifecta / 10 cent Superfecta

ALLOWANCE

Purse: $ 35,000. For Registered Pa-bred Fillies And Mares Three Years Old And Upward Which Have Never Won A Race Other Than Maiden, Claiming, Or Starter Or Which Have Never Won Two Races. Three Year Olds, 118 Lbs.; Older, 123 Lbs. Non-winners Of A Race At One Mile Or Over Since June 14 Allowed 2 lbs. (Claiming Races Not Considered In Allowances). One Mile. (Turf)

We are post position #3