Weemissfrankie Impressive In The Del Mar Debutante

It's always somewhat difficult to accurately assess the performances of juvenile runners.  Many times they are racing against other horses that won't amount to anything in the future, or they themselves don't develop much going forward relative to their rivals.  That being said, it's tough not to have your interest piqued when you see a juvenile win in an impressive manner, like Weemissfrankie did at Del Mar on Saturday.

In the first two starts of her career, Weemissfrankie has displayed a very nice mid-pack running style with a strong closing kick over the final quarter mile. She earned identical Beyers of 77 for each performance and looks like a filly that could get better when stretched out over additional ground. Additionally, she's got enough tactical speed at her disposal to avoid the dreaded "stone-cold closer" tag (see chart below), something that I think brings more obstacles than benefits.

Weemissfrankie - Internal Splits

According to the Trakus charts for the Del Mar Debutante, Weemisfrankie lost the most ground of any horse in the field (not surprising considering she went six or seven wide into the stretch), but still won by a relatively easy length.  Below is the ground loss data from Trakus:

It remains to be seen whether Weemissfrankie is strictly a Polytrack runner (where that closing style tends to be more effective) or whether she will be able to adapt to another surface.  Her connections indicated that her next start will likely be in the G1-Oak Leaf at Santa Anita on Oct. 2nd [DRF.com]. That would be her first start over dirt.  If she's successful in that race, she would probably head to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.  If she doesn't perform well on dirt, then we would likely see her in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Del Mar Debutante Replay: