Shine Again won the Genuine Risk Handicap (gr. II) over this track and distance May 11 and has finished second in three starts since then. Going for her third straight Ballerina Handicap (gr. I) win August 24, she did not get the best of trips and came up a nose short to Harmony Lodge. "She just got beat," trainer Allen Jerkens said. "You can't get much closer than that." Hobeau Farm's Lilah could be an up-and-comer in the sprint division for fillies and mares. She has won three of her last four starts and just finished a neck behind Literary Light in a $56,000 allowance at the Spa. Regular rider Shannon Uske will not receive an apprentice allowance when she rides Lilah in the Floral Park, but she hardly needs one as the filly has been assigned a starting weight of 110 pounds. "She's in light and it's a chance to get her stakes placed," Jerkens said. "There were some very nice horses in the allowance she comes out of. It was a very tough race." Trainer Mark Hennig also entered two runners for the Floral Park. He has named Jerry Bailey to ride Gold Mover and Raging Fever, so only one of them will run. Gold Mover finished second in this race last year and was a decent third behind Harmony Lodge and Shine Again in the Ballerina.
Raging Fever, a half-length behind Lilah in the August 18 allowance, will try for her second win on the year. She took the Bed O' Roses Breeders' Cup (gr. III) at Aqueduct this spring.
Also expected for the Floral Park are Literary Light, who beat Lilah and Raging Fever in her last start, Bauhauser and Forest Heiress.The field for Saturday's $100,000 Floral Park:
PP. HORSE TRAINER JOCKEY WGT.
1 Lilah, H. Allen Jerkens, Shannon Uske, 110
2 Literary Light Richard Schosberg, John Velazquez, 113
3 Shine Again, H. Allen Jerkens, Jose Santos, 120
4 Forest Heiress, Bill Mott, Eibar Coa, 115
5a Raging Fever, Mark Hennig, Jerry Bailey, 117
6 Bauhauser, Steve Asmussen, Richard Migliore, 113
7a Gold Mover, Mark Hennig, Jerry Bailey, 118