And One More Time gets cutback against Brown trio in Plenty of Grace
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A turnback in distance, a drop in class, and a forward running style all should play into the favor of And One More Time when she starts in Friday’s $150,000 Plenty of Grace Stakes at Aqueduct.
The Plenty of Grace, for fillies and mares at one mile, is the first turf stakes of the year to be run on the New York Racing Association circuit. Originally scheduled for April 4, the Plenty of Grace was delayed after the start of the turf season was pushed back two weeks due to the impacts of extended cold temperatures this winter.
Mark Casse, the trainer of And One More Time, said the two-week delay made the race more attractive to him.
And One More Time is coming out of a fifth-place finish, albeit beaten just one length, in the Grade 2 Hillsborough at Tampa on March 7. Though she did control the race through slow fractions, the 1 1/8 miles was probably farther than And One More Time wants to run.
The Plenty of Grace represents a cutback to a distance at which And One More Time is 2 for 2, including a victory in the Grade 1 Natalma in the fall of 2024. In the Natalma, And One More Time beat stablemates Vixen and Nitrogen, both of whom would win multiple stakes at 3 with Nitrogen being crowned Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly.
Lately, And One More Time has lost three straight races to Destino d’Oro, including the Grade 2 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
“This looks like a good spot,” Casse said. “She should appreciate the cutback.”
Javier Castellano rides And One More Time from the outside post in this seven-horse field.
From 2016-21, trainer Chad Brown won five straight runnings of the Plenty of Grace; the race wasn’t held in 2020. Friday, he sends out the trio of Accent, Al Jafara, and Oversubscribed.
Accent, a 4-year-old British-bred by Pinatubo, is 3 for 3, all of her wins coming at Tampa, including two this year.
“She hasn’t run much, she’s had a couple of setbacks here and there, but she’s very consistent when she runs,” said Brown, who has Jose Lezcano to ride. “She does have a lot of ability. She’s not a very big horse but she does have a good turn of foot. It’s time for her to get into the stakes-level races.”
Al Jafara is another lightly raced daughter of Pinatubo. She showed a brilliant turn of foot winning an allowance at Keeneland in April 2025 but was sidelined due to bone bruising shortly thereafter. Al Jafara made her return to the races in the Endeavour in February at Tampa, finishing sixth behind Aussie Girl.
“It was a bad spot in hindsight,” Brown said. “She wasn’t ready for that off a layoff.”
Oversubscribed, a British-bred 5-year-old, comes out of a fourth-place finish in the Albert M. Stall Memorial at Fair Grounds, where she was beaten four lengths by Expensive Queen.
While Brown was disappointed with that effort, he is heartened by the fact the form of the Stall has held up. Expensive Queen dead-heated with the Brown-trained Segesta for win in last weekend’s Grade 1 Jenny Wiley. Medoro, second in the Stall, was third, beaten three-quarters of a length in the Jenny Wiley. Sophie’s Cruiser, seventh in the Stall, was second, beaten a neck in the Tom Benson Memorial at Fair Grounds on March 21.
Further, Oversubscribed won the Wild Applause at Aqueduct in June 2023 and the Forever Together here last November.
Manny Franco rides Oversubscribed from the rail.
Relaxx, a French-bred daughter of City Light who was twice group stakes-placed last year in France, makes her U.S. debut, her first start in seven months and first start for Miguel Clement in this spot.
Do Gooder, who could be the speed of the field, and Storm Miami, just 1 for 16 in this country over two years of racing after coming over from Ireland, complete the field.
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