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​Hot Peppers looks for first stakes victory in $150K Jersey Girl

by Mary Eddy

Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso’s Hot Peppers will make her first start for trainer Rudy Rodriguez in Sunday’s $150,000 Jersey Girl for sophomore fillies sprinting six furlongs at Belmont Park. 

A bay daughter of Khozan, Hot Peppers arrives at the Jersey Girl from a distant seventh-place finish in her stakes debut in the Stonehenge Farm South Sophomore Fillies on March 27 at Tampa Bay Downs. She was an impressive maiden winner at second asking facing fellow Florida-breds in January at Gulfstream Park, leading at every point of call to win by 14 1/4 lengths for former trainer Ronald Spatz. 

Hot Peppers went on to win her next two outings at Gulfstream, collecting a 5 1/2-furlong state-bred allowance and a six-furlong optional claimer by a head against open company. She followed with her distant effort in the Sophomore Fillies ahead of a three-month layoff. 

“She’s been here close to five weeks and this is a good race for her to start,” Rodriguez said. “We’ll see what we’ve got. She seems pretty good. We got her from the farm and she’s been straightforward. She doesn’t miss a day and it’s all good.”

Rodriguez said he is hopeful that cutting Hot Peppers back to six furlongs will help bring her back to form. 

“I think that’s probably what she wants to do,” said Rodriguez. “She seems like she’s done everything right, so we just have to hope that she can compete at this level.” 

The $16,000 purchase at the OBS June 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale will emerge from post 4 with Luis Saez in the irons. 

e Five Racing Thoroughbreds’ Gimmick earned a graded stakes placing last out for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen with an even third-place finish in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness on May 20 at Pimlico Race Course. The Into Mischief bay stalked closely in second under Tyler Gaffalione but tired and held show honors by one length over Verylittlecents. 

Gimmick graduated at third asking in a six-furlong maiden in August at Saratoga Race Course and followed with a third-place effort in Monmouth Park’s Sorority for her stakes debut and first time facing winners. Her other win was a 4 1/2-length optional claiming score on April 7 at Oaklawn Park. 

Irad Ortiz, Jr. has the call from the inside post. 

Cash is King and LC Racing’s Stand Up Comic makes her seasonal debut for trainer Butch Reid, Jr. and looks to double up on stakes victories after she capped off her juvenile campaign with a win in the Parx Futurity in December at Parx Racing. 

The chestnut daughter of Practical Joke was a four-length winner under Frankie Pennington in the Parx Futurity, improving from a disappointing 10th-place finish in the Stewart Manor over the Belmont turf in her start prior. Stand Up Comic won her first two starts before making her stakes debut with a fourth-place effort in the Bolton Landing in August at Saratoga. She is undefeated in her three starts on dirt. 

Pennington retains the mount from post 5. 

The Carlos Martin-trained Diamond Collector, who races with blinkers off, will look to improve from a close second-place finish last out in optional claiming company when bested a head by Waters of Merom going one mile on April 7 over a sloppy and sealed Big Sandy. 

Campaigned by Blue Devil Racing Stable, Diamond Collector cuts back to sprinting for the first time since her maiden-breaking score travelling the Jersey Girl distance on April 7 at Aqueduct Racetrack. 

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano rides again from post 2. 

Completing the field is Michael J. Ryan’s Sweet Solare, who was a determined three-quarter-length winner of an off-the-turf allowance on May 7 at Belmont. The Horacio De Paz trainee has won 2-of-4 lifetime starts and finished fifth in the Cicada on March 19 in her lone stakes outing. 

Kendrick Carmouche has the return call from post 3. 

The Jersey Girl, named for the multiple Grade 1-winner trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, is slated as Race 3 on Sunday’s nine-race card. First post is 1:00 p.m. Eastern. 

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the spring/summer meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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