Aunt Kat brings three-race winning streak into Shine Again

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Bill Mott’s initial impression of Aunt Kat was she would be a route filly. Even a Hall of Fame trainer can be wrong sometimes.

Aunt Kat, a daughter of Uncle Mo, has proven to be quite an adept sprinter. She hopes to add to a three-race winning streak in Wednesday’s $120,000 Shine Again Stakes for fillies and mares going seven furlongs at Saratoga.

Aunt Kat, a daughter of Uncle Mo out of the multiple stakes-winning sprinter Carolyn’s Cat, meets five female sprinters in a race that could be a stepping-stone to the Grade 1 Ballerina here on Aug. 28.

Aunt Kat finished seventh at Aqueduct going a mile in her debut. Unable to find a two-turn race against females, Mott ran Aunt Kat 1 1/8 miles against males on Jan. 3.

Aunt Kat finished fifth in that race, but Mott said she got stepped on at some point in the race and “took a big piece of her foot off.”

Aunt Kat didn’t run until March 13, when she won a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race by 9 3/4 lengths. She followed that with two allowance wins at Belmont, one at 6 1/2 furlongs and one in an off-the-turf race going a mile.

Mott said the latter race proved to him that “a mile might be as far as she wants to run.” Mott had the option of running Aunt Kat in last week’s Grade 2 Honorable Miss, but thought the Shine Again “was a good spot to make her stakes debut.”

Aunt Kat could be the primary speed breaking from post 2 under Junior Alvarado.

Bayerness and Bronx Beauty finished second and third, respectively, in the Regret Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 3. Bayerness, trained by Cherie DeVaux, has also improved since her connections opted to keep her sprinting following tries in the Indiana Oaks and Kentucky Oaks last year.

“Since we gave her time off and kept her going short, she’s put in three really strong efforts,” DeVaux said.

All three of those efforts have come over wet tracks. Given the forecast, the track should be fast Wednesday.

“It’ll be a better assessment of where she’s at,” DeVaux said. “One thing we struggle with her is her weight and keeping that on her. Ever since the break she looks great and comes out of her races in good shape.”

Bronx Beauty won the 2020 Regret Stakes but is 0 for 7 since.

Casual is a daughter of Curlin. Her dam, Lady Tak, won the Test and Ballerina, both Grade 1 stakes at Saratoga. Casual hasn’t run since she finished second to the undefeated Chub Wagon in the Skipat Stakes at Pimlico on May 15.

Trainer Steve Asmussen said Casual suffered a nasty cut on her pastern during the running of that race. She spent time on the farm and in a clinic.

Of the Shine Again, Asmussen said: “Ideal race, ideal distance. Wish we had a little bit more in her.”

Honor Way, a 7-year-old mare who has won 13 of 43 starts, and Whispering Pines, a winner of a first-level allowance at Belmont on June 12, complete the field.