Owned by a partnership headed by sports broadcaster Jim Rome\u2019s Jungle Racing, Mizdirection primarily has raced in turf sprints in California, capturing stakes such as the<\/span><\/p>\n the Grade 1 Breeders\u2019 Cup Turf Sprint against males in November, and the Grade 3 Las Cienegas on April 13 in her most recent start. She brings a four-race winning streak into the Just a Game.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The 5-year-old also has won going one mile, however, having taken the 2011 Sandy Blue Handicap at Del Mar and this year\u2019s Grade 2 Buena Vista on February 18 at Santa Anita.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 In her lone start in the Eastern time zone, Mizdirection was promoted to third via disqualification in the 2011 Grade 2 Raven Run over Keeneland\u2019s Polytrack.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a one-turn mile, and it\u2019s a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 race,\u201d said trainer Mike Puype of the decision to send Mizdirection to New York for the Just a Game. \u201cIt\u2019s big money, it\u2019s a Grade 1, and it has a tough field. It would be a great race to win to increase her value. For us, it\u2019s an all-you-can-gain, nothing-you-can-lose race.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Puype said he is unconcerned about the Just a Game\u2019s one-mile distance, but that he hopes the turf course doesn\u2019t have too much moisture. Mizdirection has raced exclusively on firm turf in her career.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to come down to whether she can handle the surface,\u201d said Puype. \u201cIf it rains, we\u2019ll be in trouble, but she\u2019ll be tough over firm ground. She beat the boys off a five-month layoff in the Breeders\u2019 Cup, and you can\u2019t do that without being at the top of your division.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will ride Mizdirection, 7-2 on the morning line, from post 6.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mizdirection is one of four Grade 1 winners entered in the Just a Game, the others being Centre Court , Dayatthespa, and Better Lucky.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Centre Court, a two-time graded stakes winner as a 3-year-old, is unbeaten in two starts this year as a 4-year-old. The G. Watts Humphrey, Jr. homebred made three-wide rallies to win both the Grade 2 Honey Fox on March 16 at Gulfstream Park and the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley on April 13 at Keeneland.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe was pretty good last year, and she was running against the same fillies, with the exception of [Mizdirection],\u201d said trainer Rusty Arnold. \u201cI think she has progressed this year, but I think they all progress at four.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Like Mizdirection, Centre Court has never competed over a turf course with any moisture in it, but Arnold said she\u2019ll compete on Saturday regardless of the condition of the turf course.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know how she\u2019ll handle it because she\u2019s never run on it before, but she\u2019ll run,\u201d said Arnold . \u201cShe\u2019ll need to run a very good race. Whoever wins the race will have to run a good race. Anybody can win it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Centre Court, 3-1 on the morning line, will depart from post 3 with Julien Leparoux.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Dayatthespa, winner of the 2012 Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup and Grade 3 Appalachian against 3-year-olds, seeks her first graded stakes victory of 2013, having defeated New York-breds in the You Go West Girl overnight stakes on May 5 at Belmont Park.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The You Go West Girl was her first start since finishing fifth after jumping a shadow and nearly losing her rider on the first turn of the Grade 1 Matriarch in November at Betfair Hollywood Park .<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hoping she\u2019ll move forward in her second race off the layoff, and she\u2019s a Grade 1 winner in her own right and has a good race record,\u201d said Chad Brown, who trains Dayatthespa for Jerry and Ronald Frankel, et al. \u201cI can see a handful of runners who could win the race, but we\u2019re looking forward to running. The only thing that might prevent us from running is the condition of the turf course. The turf will have to be firm enough for us to run.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Javier Castellano has the call aboard Dayatthespa, 6-1, from post 4.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Better Lucky, who took advantage of Dayatthespa\u2019s trouble to win the Matriarch, was fourth in the Jenny Wiley, her 2013 debut. She was third to Dayatthespa and Centre Court in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup and fifth in the 2012 Grade 2 Woodford Reserve Lake Placid , won by Just a Game entrant Stephanie\u2019s Kitten.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After winning the Woodford Reserve Lake Placid at Saratoga Race Course, Stephanie\u2019s Kitten finished sixth in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. She returned to win the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile by a neck on May 4 at Churchill Downs. The runner-up in that race, Hungry Island , also was entered in the Longines Just a Game.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s race will be the North American debut for Laugh Out Loud, who won a Group 2 in France and placed in a Group 1 in England . She has made one start since being purchased by owner Martin Schwartz, faltering when 11th<\/sup>\u00a0in the Group 2 Prix du Muguet on May 1 at Saint-Cloud in France .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The field for the Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Just a Game:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n 7-2<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n ELMONT, N.Y. – Mizdirection, winner of eight stakes, including six sprints, will stretch out to one mile and take on a deep cast of competitors in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Just a Game for fillies and mares on the turf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[97,52,2044],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-events-magazine","category-events-magazine","category-magazine"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/equestrianinfluence.com\/horsehappenings\/files\/2013\/06\/Centre_Court_HS.jpg\" "\\"Centre_Court_HS\\"")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n
\n PP<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n Horse<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n Jockey<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n WGT<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n Trainer<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n Odds<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 1<\/span><\/td>\n Hungry Island (KY)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n G K. Gomez<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n 118<\/span><\/td>\n C R. McGaughey III<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n 4-1<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 2<\/span><\/td>\n Stephanie’s Kitten (KY)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n J R. Velazquez<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n 120<\/span><\/td>\n W M. Catalano<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n 5-2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 3<\/span><\/td>\n Centre Court (KY)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n J R. Leparoux<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n 123<\/span><\/td>\n G R. Arnold, II<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n 3-1<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 4<\/span><\/td>\n Dayatthespa (NY)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n J Castellano<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n 120<\/span><\/td>\n C C. Brown<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n 6-1<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 5<\/span><\/td>\n Laugh Out Loud (GB)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n G L. Stevens<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n 118<\/span><\/td>\n J Rouget<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n 15-1<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 6<\/span><\/td>\n Mizdirection (KY)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n M E. Smith<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n 123<\/span><\/td>\n \n \n \n 7<\/span><\/td>\n Better Lucky (KY)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n J Rosario<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n 120<\/span><\/td>\n \n 12-1<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"