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.