Ruthless Preview: Miss Brazil Must Avoid Bouncing

OZONE PARK, NY – After a strong last-out victory earned her a sparkling speed figure, Team D’s Miss Brazil must avoid the dreaded bounce effort as she steps up for Monday’s $100,000 Ruthless Stakes at Aqueduct.

The Ruthless is a 7-furlong dirt sprint restricted to 3-year-old fillies rescheduled from Sunday after a snowstorm forced the card’s postponement. This year’s edition is the third event on an 8-race card and has a local post time of 2:23 PM.

Here’s a look at the full field for the Ruthless:

1. Miss Brazil 1/1 – She blitzed a field of six other maidens by 2 1/2 lengths while leading gate to wire in a 6 1/2-furlong sprint over this course last November. She earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure that’s much the best in this field and came in her dirt debut after trainer Tony Dutrow first unveiled her on Belmont Park’s lawn. Jockey Eric Cancel remains her only race rider.

“That (win) was impressive and she led us to believe going into the race that she was better than average,” Dutrow said. “She’s very kind in the mornings. When we ran her on the turf the first time out, she sat behind horses and made her run. In workouts with other horses, she’s sat behind. I’m not sure what her style is going to be. She broke so good last time and her talent took her right to the front, but I don’t know if she’ll be an aggressive kind of horse, or with racing experience, if she’ll settle down. I really have no concerns if there’s a pace in the race or not because I don’t worry if she’ll sit behind or be the pace.”

2. Dealing Justice 4/1 – She finished third while debuting during Miss Brazil’s big score, and while she was 10 1/2 lengths behind the winner that day, she broke her maiden next out in a local 6-furlong sprint last month. Trainer Ray Handal connects at 12% with a healthy $2.21 ROI when legging up Dylan Davis, who rides again for the third straight start.

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3. It Can 30/1 – She won 2 straight to start her career while facing lesser competition at Finger Lakes and Parx, but she failed to bring the same punch last month in Laurel Park’s Xtra Heat Stakes (finishing fifth). This is easily her toughest test yet, but her Beyer Speed Figures improved with every race and both victories came at large odds (12/1 and 15/1).

4. Little Huntress 7/2 – She romped by 14 lengths as the 1/5 heavy favorite in a 7-furlong Laurel Park dirt sprint in late December, one month after getting caught late going 6 furlongs while running along Laurel Park’s infamous rail. This filly fired a 4-furlong bullet best-of-44 in :48 flat as her final work for this and the Brittany Russell stable has been on fire lately.

5. Gulf Coast 2/1 – She scratched out of Saturday’s two-turn Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs as the morning line favorite in favor of this spot. She broke her maiden on debut in a 6-furlong Indiana Grand dirt sprint, raced second in the 7-furlong Sandpiper Stakes, then took the 1-mile Cash Run Stakes last time out, all one-turn events. Trainer Rudy Brisset is still seeking his first repeat winner since September 2019.

“We think she can go further,” Brisset said. “Obviously, her last race was going a mile and she ran a good race that day. The way she ran first going six furlongs, we thought added distance would be key.”

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