Impressive looking South American import set to make US debut in Clement Hirsch
 

Amani is entered in the Clement Hirsch on Saturday at Del Mar.





She's only faced females once beyond a mile -- and when she did, she took a 10 runner Grade 1 race by offically 28.5 lengths -- though it shows just a 25 length win for that race in the DRF.

Oddly, she's not an early speed horse -- like most horses who fracture races and win by large margins tend to be.

She's a deep closer. Here is the video of her 28.5 length Grade 1 win. She closed from 9th position and was about as many as 12 to 15 lengths off of the early pace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IKhD...eature=related


Amani goes for Sumaya Us Stables. They also owned Wild Spirit ("The filly from Chile") Wild Spirt was also a champion 3yo filly in Chile. She was 6-for-10 lifetime in Chile before coming to Frankel's barn and racing in America.

Without lasix, she made her US Debut a winning one in the Shuvee with an easy win over You and Smokn' Frolic and ran a 106 Beyer.

In Wild Spirit's 2nd start in this country, she ran first-time-lasix and won the $750,000 Delaware Handicap by 6 lengths over Take Charge Lady, getting a 110 Beyer. Wild Spirit easily took the Grade 1 Ruffian Handicap with a 109 Beyer two races later.

Oddly, Neil Drysdale is not going to run her on lasix Saturday. CJ, what is the stat of imports on Lasix versus imports who run here without lasix?

Good lord that was impressive to watch.

What was that, like a 5 turn race?

Horses with Lasix are a much better bet.

Here's the horse who finished 2nd by 28.5 legnths in that Grade 1 race. She just finished a good 3rd at Del Mar in a $73,000 ALW race a few days ago:





She's basically a solid 85 Beyer type on turf for a low percentage trainer.

Interestingly, her sire was a plodding son of A. P Indy that Pletcher trained who HATED grass. The broodmare sire Stuka won the Santa Anita Handicap in 1994 via DQ of champion older male The Wicked North. He never raced on turf, but had a pedigree for it.

The best recent horse to come out of Chile was Lido Palace.

Here he is winning the first of his two Woodwards -- beating Tiznow and Albert The Great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzZmSndYUJY


Here's Lido Palace's best losing effort. Finishing in a photo with Street Cry for 2nd in Left Bank's super fast Whitney Handicap win.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k73AXxl3eY


That was Left Bank's last race, he dropped dead after it. He was probably the best performer Todd Pletcher has ever trained in his entire career.

What can you tell us about Quick Casablanca, the horse that ran second to her in her last race? I think there are a couple of grade one wins on her record since then too right?

Yes -- after Amani destroyed Quick Casablanca in the Chile St Ledger in her most recent race -- Quick Casablanca came back and won his next start at 24/1 odds over Argentina's Horse of the Year Expressive Halo (best horse in South American right now)

Here's the video of that race: It's a 400K stake and South America's most important weight-for-age event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qa9gBUBESs

All of the signs are pointing to this Amani as being a serious race horse. I'm looking forward to seeing her more than the Whitney or Vanderbilt or any other race this weekend. The fact that she hasn't been out in such a long time plus the fake dirt reserves me just a little but I'm still anxious to see her.

Drysdale is generally a poor layoff trainer.

Also, the horse is running without lasix and giving a slight competitive advantage away for no reason.

She has the most impressive South American form of any filly I've ever seen -- but I'll watch one.

A. P. Indy was 5th at Woodbine in a racce dominated by two hapless Canadian horses when Drysdale brought him back from just a 3+ month layoff after winning the Belmont. He eventually rebounded and won Horse of the Year.

I hope she's more ready than Fly Lexus Fly.

She's A LOT more horse than Fly Lexus Fly.

Fly Lexus Fly was a nice dominant horse in a region where scarcely a decent allowance horse is ever seen. He was a faster version of Tomcito and still has a chance to prove himself a good horse over here.

Amani is unquestionably the best South American filly in a long, long time...and the dirt racing in South America is generally a lot better than the turf racing.

How she handles the new climate and comes back from the long layoff and all that remains to be seen.

Some fillies like Bayakoa, Riboletta, Paseana, Wild Spirit etc. etc. will thrive and get a lot better here, some will struggle to reproduce their South American form. It always helps if these imports have a trainer who has some magic to them.

Here a few other good ones to come out of these series of races in Chile.

Puerto Madero (like Lido Palace, was Horse of the Year in Chile) he was beaten in the St Ledger -- that's the race Amani dominated against the males in her final start in Chile.



He was an in-and-outer -- but was very good when right. His best moment came when he won the Donn Handicap over Behrens and Silver Charm.



Cocoa Beach had a very similar early form -- she was undefeated in Chile -- but never won anything more than a Grade 3 there.





She was a nice 3-surface horse. In her 2nd US start, she beat our hapless champion Ginger Punch in a Grade 1 on dirt.

In her 3rd US start, she traveled cross-country and finished 2nd to Zenyatta over the same track where Zenyatta won the Classic at the following year.

In her 4th US start, she won a Grade 1 race on turf over 3-time Grade 1 winner Precious Kitten.

If she's anything like We Can Seek turned out to be I can't wait to see what names you call her. :D

Hope she's all that.

The expectations for her have to be a ton higher than they were for We Can Seek.





We Can Seek was a fairly useful plodder for Mark Henning. He finished 4th in the Whitney Handicap won by Invasor -- ahead of a few good also-rans like Premium Tap and Flower Alley.

I was expecting the second coming, I'm embarrassed to say.

There's no way you could have seen the foreign form of that horse and expected anything here. No way possible.

Slowest track of the century at Aqueduct to run 2:08+ at 1 1/4 miles and still receive a 97 Beyer?

Why would you say that Kingie... because of my infinite wisdom? :D

It was 2005. I had been a fan for an entire year. No idea if you remember how over the top my expectations were at times. (They still are but in a less ridiculous way).

(Somewhat).

The polytrack is probably a concern as well.