Shaconage, third in last year's Modesty Handicap (gr. IIIT), takes another stab at the $150,000 race, this time as the 117 pound starting highweight in the field of 11 fillies and mares at Arlington Park on Saturday.
The Modesty, the final local prep for the Aug. 13 Beverly D. (gr. IT), is contested at the Beverly D. distance of 1 3/16 miles and is one of three rich stakes on turf that comprise the track's Million Preview Day program.
Shaconage, who was beaten only 1 1/4 lengths in last year's Modesty, has placed in all five of this year's starts, four of which were graded turf events. Last time out, the Mitch Shirota trainee was second, beaten a half-length by Delta Princess, in the Locust Grove Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Churchill Downs July 2. A month earlier, Shaconage finished second to that same rival in the Mint Julep Handicap (gr. IIIT) at the Louisville oval.
Next in the line in the weights, at 116 pounds, are Noisette and Spring Season, both at 6-1. The former, trained by Bill Mott, is in search of her first win of the year. In her most recent trip to the post, she was a close third in the $100,000 Lady Canterbury Breeders' Cup Stakes and was third earlier in the year in the Hillsborough Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Tampa Bay Downs.
Spring Season looks for her second straight stakes win after capturing the $100,000 Dr. James Penny Memorial Handicap at Philadelphia Park July 2 in spite of a troubled trip that saw her steadied on the turn. Trained by Jonathon Sheppard, she finished second in the $100,000 John W. Rooney Memorial Handicap at Delaware Park in her race before the Penny Memorial.
Cape Town Lass, who will carry 114 pounds, also is pegged at 6-1 in the morningline. The Paul McGee trainee ran unplaced in the Locust Grove and Mint Julep, but won at Fair Grounds and Keeneland and was second in the 1 1/2-mile Bewitch Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Keeneland.
Modesty H., Race 9, Post Time 4:53
Post Horse Jockey Weight Odds
1 Noisette Cornelio H. Velasquez 116 6/1
2 Ide Be a Lady E. T. Baird 113 12/1
3 Shaconage Gary L. Stevens 117 8/5
4 Tisket a Tasket Carlos H. Marquez Jr. 112 8/1
5 Make My Heart Sing Jesse M. Campbell 114 30/1
6 Spring Season Ramon A. Dominguez 116 6/1
7 Ms. Purr Eusebio Razo Jr. 112 30/1
8 Pretty Jane Brice Blanc 114 10/1
9 Humorous Miss James Graham 114 10/1
10 Cape Town Lass Mark Guidry 114 6/1
11 Atlantic Frost Larry Sterling Jr. 114 12/1
