A week ago, trainer Chad Brown finished first and second in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic with Big Blue Kitten and Slumber. He is equally strong in the filly and mare turf division, and on Saturday, he could start as many as four runners in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl at Belmont Park.
It is hard to go past Sabrina in a $25,000 optional-claiming race for fillies and mares that will serve as the feature race on Saturday at Hastings.
Trainer Bobby Dibona saddles Air Squadron (#5, ML 5-2) in Thursday's seventh race at Penn National, a one-mile-70-yard allowance optional claimer. Since Jan., 1, 2014, Dibona is winning at a 40 percent clip in allowances, for a return on investment of $4.64. Check out the Positive ROI report as part of DRF Plus. Sign up for DRF Plus here.
It is fascinating to watch the great trainers get their horses ready for the biggest race of their lives in the Oct. 31 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland.
Few turf fillies, if any, have enjoyed a more productive campaign in North America this year than Tepin, who is just a head and nose shy of having a decisive edge atop the division.
Judy the Beauty, trainer Wesley Ward’s pride and joy, begins her march toward a championship defense Saturday as a solid favorite in the Grade 2, $250,000 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland.
A field of 10 talented fillies and mares seeking to add some black type to their résumés invade Suffolk Downs on Saturday to contest the newly created $75,000 Suffolk Downs Distaff Turf.
The $150,000 Roamin Rachel Stakes on Saturday at Parx Racing has attracted a Who’s Who of the Mid-Atlantic’s filly and mare sprint division.
Bella Joy (#3, ML 8-1) returns in Thursday's sixth race at Belmont Park, a one-mile maiden special weight race on turf. It will be her first start since finishing third by 3 1/2 lengths in a maiden special weight race Aug. 14 at Saratoga. The first- and second-place finishers from that race came back to win their next starts. Get the Key Race report as part of DRF Plus. Sign up for DRF Plus here.
Melmich has been a rags-to-riches success for trainer Kevin Attard, and the late bloomer will try to notch his first graded stakes over nine furlongs in Saturday’s $150,000 Durham Cup at Woodbine.
