En Fuego

Her name says it all - Hot Dixie Chick.

The Steve Asmussen-trained 2-year-old filly sat just off the early pace and then rolled up the inside and cruised to home a 1 3/4-length score over Beautician in the $300,000 Spinaway at Saratoga.

Now Asmussen has two of the top fillies in the country. Horse of the Year "lock" Rachel Alexandra and "The Chick."

"Today she was very professional and maintained her margin to the wire," Asmussen said. "Obviously, today she reached a new level. I don’t know if we look past this at all. It’s a Grade 1, the Spinaway. She’s got a mind that’s spooky. She’s extremely laid back. (Assistant trainer) Scott (Blasi) said she was laying down in the holding barn. Her demeanor is why she’s stabled next to Rachel (Alexandra). You can’t have a better demeanor than that.”

Now there should be a great battle between Hot Dixie Chick and Mi Sueno for top freshman filly. Both horses will likely meet in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in early November.

To give you a quick background on Mi Sueno, she's very well bred - A daughter of Pulpit out of the speedy stakes winning mare Madcap Escapade (ironically both were trained by Frank Brothers.) She has three in a row including the Del Mar Debutante on Saturday. Her trainer is also looking for his consecutive two-year-old filly championship. Eric Guillot conditioned Stardom Bound last year.

Mi Sueno will have the advantage of having run over the "artificial dirt" tracks of Southern California and we know that Hot Dixie Chick's owners aren't big fans of those surfaces.

There's obviously plenty of time until the Breeders' Cup but it looks like BC Juvenile Fillies should be a highlight of the event.

The Next Star

The Rachel Alexandra hype will subside for a while but attention paid to the Steve Asmussen barn won't quiet down much as he sends out a young star today at Saratoga.

Hot Dixie Chick, who is owned by Jess Jackson's wife Barbara Banke, started off her career with a runner-up finish at Churchill Downs on May 14. Since then, she has rattled off two straight wins including a blow out win in the Schuylerville last month here at Saratoga.

Today, Hot Dixie Chick will run in one of the higher profile races for 2-year-old fillies, the Spinaway. (Race set to start at 5:56 PM ET.) On paper, the race seems to be a one horse race. Her average winning margin is six and her last two Beyer Speed Figures are 100 and 103.

It's highly unlikely that Hot Dixie Chick will become another Rachel Alexandra. Rachel is frankly a once in a lifetime horse. But it's fun to speculate and dream a bit about how good "The Chick" will be.

Her only competition for best 2-year-old filly is the well-bred Mi Sueno, who captured the Del Mar Debutante Saturday. If they meet in the Breeders' Cup, it should be a wonderful matchup.

Top Two-Year-Olds

With two of Saratoga's big freshman stakes in the books (Schuylerville and Sanford) you might be asking yourself did I see a rising star in the game?

Yes and no.

Hot Dixie Chick, who won the Schuylerville on Wednesday by 6 1/2 lengths, earned a 103 Beyer Speed Figure. She's undoubtedly the best 2-year-old in the country. And, oh by the way, she's trained by Steve Asmussen who has superstar Rachel Alexandra set to run in Sunday's Haskell at Monmouth.

The next day, Backtalk earned a hard fought neck victory in the Sanford. His Beyer - 82. Not nearly as impressive.

What makes Backtalk's race even more unimpressive is the fact that a maiden race for fillies earlier on Thursday's card saw a faster time and faster Beyer figures (Kinsey - 86). What's worse is both 2-year-old maiden race winners on Wednesday also had faster Beyers with one of those races being restricted to New York State breds (Come From Behind - 85).

This doesn't mean that Backtalk will not develop into a really nice horse but despite his unbeaten record, you can't be overly impressed with him.

Meanwhile, Hot Dixie Chick is the best freshman in the country. Will she take a similar path to her superstar stablemate and run against the boys? Right now, looks like she could beat her male counterparts.

Isn't this a great time of year?

Beyer Speed Figures are courtesy of Daily Racing Form
Photos courtesy of Eclipse Sportswire