Robert and Beverly Lewis' Chilean-bred mare Miss of Wales will attempt to earn her first North American stakes win in the $150,000 Cardinal Handicap (gr. IIIT). Also entered in the 1 1/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up are Ballston Spa Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. IIIT) winner License Fee, Noble Damsel Handicap (gr. IIIT) winner Gino's Spirits, defending Cardinal winner Pratella, and multiple stakes winners Illiquidity, White Beauty, and Lady Tamworth.
When last out, Miss of Wales finished second in the Hillsborough Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Bay Meadows. The Jean-Pierre Dupuis-trained daughter of Roy also finished fourth in the Ramona Handicap (gr. IT) and third in the Palomar Handicap (gr. IIIT). In the last-named race, only Tranquility Lake and Tout Charmant finished ahead of her. In the Cardinal Handicap, Miss of Wales will be ridden by Brice Blanc for the first time.
License Fee enters the Cardinal out of a third-place finish in the WinStar Galaxy Stakes (gr. IIIT), in which she finished behind the two horses who comprised the exacta in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (gr. IT), Perfect Sting -- who finished second in the WinStar before winning the Breeders' Cup race -- and Tout Charmant. A winner of a main track sprint stakes race, the 1 3/16-mile WinStar may have been beyond her ideal distance. Pat Day has the return call on Saturday.
The field for the Cardinal Handicap will consist of:
1--Mumtaz, Calvin Borel, 114, 8-1
2--Alexis, Marlon St. Julien, 113, 30-1
3--Histoire Sainte, Donnie Meche, 111, 12-1
4--Seven Sevens, Craig Perret, 114, 15-1
5--License Fee, Pat Day, 118, 9-5
6--Illiquidity, Jon Court, 115, 10-1
7--White Beauty, Timothy Doocy, 114, 15-1
8--Lady Tamworth, Willie Martinez, 110, 50-1
9--Miss of Wales, Brice Blanc, 114, 8-1
10--Gino's Spirits, Larry Melancon, 116, 6-1
11--Final Tango, Charles Woods Jr., 112, 15-1
12--Pratella, Shane Sellers, 116, 4-1
