DEL MAR, Calif. – Twirling Queen returns to a stakes on turf in Friday’s $200,000 Sen. Ken Maddy Stakes for fillies and mares at Del Mar after an interrupted late summer and early fall campaign. Trainer Jose D’Angelo had stakes in mind for Twirling Queen at Kentucky Downs and Keeneland, but missed those races when the filly was excluded because of full fields, he said. Twirling Queen instead ran in the Grade 2 Raven Run Stakes on dirt on Oct. 19 at Keeneland and finished ninth of 10. She is unlikely to race on dirt anytime soon. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. In the Maddy Stakes, the second race on the first day of the Breeders’ Cup races, Twirling Queen should be effective as a stalker in a field of seven. “That’s the game plan,” D’Angelo said Wednesday morning. A diminutive filly, Twirling Queen is unbeaten in two starts on turf, both at 5 1/2 furlongs for 3-year-old fillies – the Mamzelle Stakes at Churchill Downs in May and the Coronation Cup at Saratoga in July. The Sen. Ken Maddy is open to older fillies and mares and should be run at an intense pace thanks to the presence of Kissed by Fire and Sassy Nature. Aside from Twirling Queen, a quick pace will help Just Nails, who has won two of her last three starts in turf sprints. Kissed by Fire won an allowance race at five furlongs on turf here Sept. 2, a race in which she was eligible to be claimed for $80,000. Kissed by Fire has won 3 of 4 starts at five furlongs on turf at Del Mar. Trainer Peter Eurton said Kissed by Fire is naturally quick, and he does not foresee a strategy change. “I’m not taking her back, that’s for sure,” he said. “As fast as she is, we’ll have to see how it plays out. “She loves California. She loves the firm going.” Sassy Nature won an allowance race at five furlongs on turf from the front here Aug. 2, but has been beaten in her last two starts – a seventh against males in the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap at five furlongs on turf on Aug. 31 and a sixth in the California Distaff for statebred fillies and mares on the hillside turf course on Oct. 12 at Santa Anita. In both losses, Sassy Nature set the pace before fading from contention in the final furlong. TAA Stakes The post position draw for Friday’s $200,000 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes for 2-year-old turf milers did not help the chances of summertime stakes winner Artislas. The race will have a full field of 14, and Artislas drew the outside. He will move in one position after Pali Kitten drew into Friday’s BC Juvenile Turf Sprint from the also-eligible list. A start in post 13 is little consolation for Jeff Mullins, who trains Artislas. The colt will be ridden by Reylu Gutierrez, who will have a difficult assignment of avoiding a wide trip. “At Del Mar, you can’t give up any ground,” Mullins said. Reylu will “have to dive for the rail right away. How far back will he be? “Patient or no patience, 13 is not a good place to be. We’ll need a lot of luck.” Artislas does have a stakes win over the course, in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf at a mile on Sept. 8. In the Grade 3 Zuma Beach Stakes at a mile on turf on Oct. 6 at Santa Anita, Artislas finished first by a head but was disqualified and placed third for a bumping incident in the final strides. Iron Man Cal, who was promoted to first, is entered in Friday’s BC Juvenile Turf, while Sabertooth, who was promoted to second, starts from the inside post in the TAA Stakes. The TAA Stakes field includes Smash It, who finished second by a neck in the four-runner Speakeasy Stakes at five furlongs on turf Oct. 5 at Santa Anita after a troubled start. Smash It is on the also-eligible list for the Juvenile Turf Sprint, trainer Todd Fincher’s preferred race. Fincher trained Smash It with the Juvenile Turf Sprint as a goal this weekend, leaving the distance of the TAA Stakes as an unknown factor. Fincher said he was encouraged by Smash It’s half-mile work in 48.20 seconds on Oct. 24. “I think he’ll go out” in distance, Fincher said. “He galloped out huge the other day.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.