Trainer Dale Romans got exactly what he was hoping for when entering Sassy Image, not Breeders' Cup winner Tapitsfly, in Sunday's Sweetest Chant Stakes. A lot of rain and a switch in venue from the turf to the dirt. Sweetest Chant responding with an easy and popular victory over a field that scratched down to just five starters. The win was the third in a row for the multiple graded stakes winner whose two ultimate goals this spring are the Bonnie Miss here on March 20 and then the Kentucky Oaks.
Pretty chalky second half of the card with many of the fields reduced to very few contenders. The lone exception being the eight race in which Dramatic Trip cruised to an easy wire to wire win at odds of 5-1 for trainer David Fawkes with the heavy favorite Star of David spinning his wheels and fading badly over the wet track.
Hopefully clear skies will return tomorrow and the turf course will be open for business once again. The special Martin Luther King Day card one of only two Monday programs here this meet.
