Well, unless she comes back with something unexpected, I Am Woman is clearly not the filly I hoped she'd be. It was her turn to step up against these and she tanked.
The trip was fine. She sat 7th off the start. Certainly this wasn't unexpected as she was starting out of the 8 spot. Fox Valley Hooray had the rail and the early speed and sure enough, off she went. She blistered through some early fractions :28.3 and then :56.3 at the half. Exactly what you'd like to see in a conditioned claiming event where you have to come from off the pace and that's your filly's best style. She tipped wide with cover and then slide out three wide at the top of the stretch with clearance all the way home. Except there was no rally. None. She slipped past some tiring pacers, but she struggled to get to 5th.
I can't fault the drive. She was out of trouble and clear coming home. There may have been a little momentum stall - perhaps - by the fourth place finisher moving a bit outside in deep stretch, but it was clear by then that she wasn't going to win this one. Youaretheonlyone was the closer and picked up the win. Fox Valley Hooray held on for second.
I may need to face the fact that maybe she's just not that good and that $8,000 claimers is where she belongs. I hope I'm wrong, but if she comes back healthy, then there are no excuses. If she was ever to be a Late Closer series type of horse, here is where she needed to step up. It didn't happen. It's disappointing, but she can still be a useful filly in the claiming ranks. Maybe she'll be a really late bloomer, but then again, maybe we witnessed the high point of her career in March.
Then again, maybe it was just an off night? I guess to stay in this business you have to try and balance reality with some boundless optimism. Right now reality is winning. Maybe in the morning there will be some optimism.
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