Competitive Field in the Falls City

Listed at 3-1 in the morning line, co-favorites Flashy American and Don’t Tell Sophia will be lining up at opposite ends of the Churchill Downs gate on Thursday for the $150,000 Grade II Falls City Handicap for fillies and mares going 1 1/8 miles on the dirt. Nine have been entered for the race, and Don’t Tell Sophia has been assigned high weight of 122 pounds. A five-year-old Congaree mare, Don’t Tell Sophia has finished in-the-money in six straight stakes races in 2013 with a win last time out in the Grade II Chilukki Stakes, and a third three starts back in the Grade I Apple Blossom.

All contenders have found graded-stakes success

Flashy American, who will break from the inside post, made her last start in the Grade I Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita where she finished fourth, six lengths back of the winner Beholder, who then went on to beat a very tough field to capture the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Prior to that Flashy American had claimed two consecutive stakes victories, both times rallying in the stretch. Fiftyshadesofhay, third choice at 5-2, has been in the money in seven-straight graded stakes, including consecutive wins in the Grade II Black-Eyed Susan and Grade III Iowa Oaks.

Longshot coming back to the dirt surface

Among the longer shots, the most serious threat may come from the Illinois-bred My Option (8-1) who earlier this year won two-straight stakes events on the dirt at Hawthorn, and then managed some good results on Polytrack, including a Grade III win in the Arlington Oaks. Since then she’s had three consecutive third-place finishes, the last in the Grade II Lexus Raven Run where she came out of the clouds to circle nine-wide before closing fast and only missing the top two placings by a neck.  Wine Princess, the runner up to Don’t Tell Sophia in the Chilukka, is also in the field at 6-1.