by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — She might not have entered Yonkers Raceway quite like former Iowa champion Beach Nut Brand did after capturing a $50,000 leg of the 2007 Su Mac Lad series at The Meadowlands and just missing in the $110,700 final, but Opticrombie has certainly held her own.

Until Oct. 15, the 3-year-old daughter of Eternal Optimist and the Abercrombie mare The Independent competed solely on the Iowa State Fair circuit and at Prairie Meadows, but after winning her last 11 starts in Iowa, her owners, Marion and Aaron Rush and Robert Anderson, decided to see if she fit out on the East Coast.

“We can’t race her in Chicago,” explained Marion Rich. “They count every one of her fair wins as a pari-mutuel win because it’s over a $3,500 purse. Right off the bat she’ll have to go in against the older horses and I don’t know if she can go with them. There is a possibility she could, but right now I think it’s too much for her.”

Mike Lizzi photo

Opticrombie has posted two wins and two seconds since arriving at Yonkers.

When Opticrombie, whose dam was bred by Castleton Farm, debuted as the favorite at Yonkers on Oct. 15 in an $11,500 non-winners contest, she did not disappoint her backers by pacing a winning mile in 1:57.1. Now under the care of Casey Larson, the filly was second in a $9,000 race on Nov. 5, victorious in a similar event on Nov. 19, where she established her lifetime record of 1:56.2, and was second in a $12,000 race on Nov. 26.

To date, Opticrombie has banked $53,428 from 31 races. Her record stands at 16-5-1.

“Last year she was at the county fair tracks in Iowa going in about 2:05 or 2:06 and that’s about all she wanted,” said Anderson, who conditioned and steered the filly. “When we took her to Prairie Meadows we had her hocks injected and she came out like King Kong. In her last start of the year, after that, she just got beaten (and finished) second and I think she had a :28 last quarter.

“Then I took her back to Iowa this year,” he continued. “Her first start and her second start at What Cheer where something like 2:05 and 2:00, but ever since then she went under 2:00 and won every week. After Iowa was over there was no place else to go with her and Casey Larson’s mom and dad race horses up here in Iowa. They are from South Dakota.”

“I bought her as a weanling and when I first saw her she just stood there by herself with her head up nice and proud,” Rich remembered. “So when she came into the sales ring, I went ahead and bought her.

“She’s raced so well back out in Iowa and we had some inquiries on her,” he continued. “But no one ever made a flat out offer on her, so we decided to just send her out East and see what happens.”

Rich and Anderson concur the filly’s strength is simply how she processes the tasks set before her.

“She won’t give up,” Anderson said. “When you ask her to go on she will give you all she’s got. She has a great attitude; it’s like ‘I am out here to do a job, so let’s get it done.’ She’s done it either way, from the front or off the pace, but I like her better from off the pace. I usually let her sit for the first quarter and then pull her on out. When you pulled her you didn’t really have to say anything or get after her.”

“I would probably say it’s her attitude,” Rich said. “You don’t see very many fillies that want to go out there every time and literally kick everybody’s butt. One week they are great and the next week they are so-so and temperamental. She acts more like a gelding or stud colt to me. She wants to go out there and give 110 percent.”

For the time being it looks like Opticrombie will remain in the Empire State.

“That’s the plan I know of so far,” Anderson said. “After October there is nothing in Iowa.”

“It remains to be seen, but right now it looks like she is going to stay out there,” Rich said. “She is certainly going to finish up at Yonkers and then we will play it by ear, but I do prefer to go ahead and leave her out there. She has four starts, with two wins and two seconds. So far, she has been extremely successful out there for being an Iowa-bred horse. I think she has been exceptional.”