by Myra Lewyn

Precious Kitten will seek her second straight Grade 1 win as she stretches out to 1 3/16 miles for the first time on Saturday at Arlington Park in the $750,000 Beverly D. Stakes (G1), which drew an international field of nine fillies and mares, including multiple graded stakes winner Mauralakana (Fr) and champion Dreaming of Anna.

A five-year-old Catienus mare, Precious Kitten scored a convincing victory in the Gamely Stakes (G1) on May 26 at Hollywood Park and will attempt to record her first victory beyond the Gamely’s 1 1/8 miles in the Beverly D., which guarantees the winner a starting spot in the Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) on October 24 at Santa Anita Park as part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” series.

Precious Kitten is lightly raced this season and was sidelined after the Gamely with a quarter crack. She posted a fifth-place finish in the Jenny Wiley Stakes on April 12 at Keeneland Race Course in her only other start this year.

Precious Kitten was among the top female runners on the West Coast in 2007 with victories in the John C. Mabee (G1) and Palomar (G2) Handicaps and the Matriarch Stakes (G1). Her chances in last year’s Filly and Mare Turf were compromised when she was forced wide when an opponent blew the clubhouse turn and bolted to the outside rail, effectively taking Precious Kitten out of the race.

Tabbed as the 9-to-5 morning-line favorite for the Beverly D., Precious Kitten will meet Mauralakana, who comes in with a three-race win streak.

 The five-year-old Muthathir (GB) mare won the Mairzy Doates Handicap on April 26 at Calder Race Course. She subsequently recorded victories in the Sheepshead Bay Handicap (G2) on May 24 and New York Stakes (G2) on June 21, both at Belmont Park. The only blemish on her record this season is a runner-up finish to Hostess in the Orchid Handicap (G3) on March 30 at Gulfstream Park after winning her season debut in The Very One Handicap (G3) on March 8.

Dreaming of Anna, the champion two-year-old filly of 2006, has become a prominent turf performer since winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) on dirt. The four-year-old Rahy filly has won eight of 11 turf starts, seven in stakes, including the Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (G3) on June 14 at Churchill Downs in her previous start.

Myra Lewyn is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor

The field, in post-position order, with (sire), jockey, weight, and trainer:

1. Dreaming of Anna (Rahy), Garrett K. Gomez, 123, Wayne M. Catalano;

2. Rosinka [IRE] (Soviet Star), Cornelio H. Velasquez, 123, H. Graham Motion;

3. Precious Kitten (Catienus), Rafael Bejarano, 123, Robert J. Frankel;

4. Mauralakana [FR] (Muhtathir [GB]), Kent J. Desormeaux, 123, Christophe Clement;

5. Ciao (Lear Fan), John R. Velazquez, 126, Frank J. Kirby;

6. Meribel (Peaks and Valleys), Robby Albarado, 123, Helen Pitts;

7. Toque de Queda [GB] (Dansili [GB]), John Patrick Murtagh, 119, Mikel Delzangles;

8. Communique (Smart Strike), Rene R. Douglas, 123, George R. Arnold, II; and

9. Cicerole [FR] (Barathea [IRE]), Ioritz Mendizabal, 123, Jean-Claude Rouget.