LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Two of the most exciting turf females in the country run Friday at Churchill Downs, as Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Hard to Justify makes her 3-year-old debut in the Grade 2, $600,000 Edgewood Stakes and Ova Charged, coming off a massive figure at Fair Grounds, makes her major-stage debut in the Grade 3, $400,000 Unbridled Sidney Stakes. The Edgewood, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies, immediately precedes the Kentucky Oaks and has drawn a full field of 14. Hard to Justify won all three of her starts last year, including the Grade 2 Miss Grillo and the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, both with pace-pressing trips under regular rider Flavien Prat. The duo drew post 9 and may get a similar trip, with the logical speed inside of them. “She’s doing super,” trainer Chad Brown said. “She’s really just hit all her marks, and she’s right on schedule. I had picked this race out over the winter to work backwards from, and she’s really hit every mark, very pleased with her.” Brown said his one concern is whether or not Hard to Justify will handle the Churchill turf course. Since this course debuted in spring 2022, Brown says some of his runners have handled it, while other individuals don’t perform optimally. :: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. “You don’t really know until you run on it,” said Brown, who will also saddle Grade 3-placed Dynamic Style. “I’m not blaming the turf – I just think it’s new, it’s probably a unique feel for some horses. My horses tend to run a lot better when they can get their toe in the ground and push off the turf course – whether it’s firm, or less than firm with some moisture in it, but a lusher ground they can put their toe in and push off. “That’s the way I train, and I find that really, extremely hard turf courses that it’s hard to sort of penetrate the top of it, my horses generally don’t run as well on them. It sounded hard [Saturday] night. There is some rain in the forecast, so that might soften it up a little bit and really benefit my horses.” A number of Edgewood entrants are coming out of the Grade 2 Appalachian Stakes on April 6 at Keeneland. Buchu, Mo Fox Givin, Dancing N Dixie, and Simply in Front swept the top four placings. Pounce, winner of the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride Stakes at Gulfstream Park, was 11th. Buchu has been strong on Kentucky turf courses, winning a Churchill maiden and the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland before finishing sixth behind Hard to Justify at the Breeders’ Cup. Trainer Phil Bauer also circled the Edgewood for Buchu’s 2024 debut – but after she returned to the work tab in early March, “everything came together real quick,” he said. Unbridled Sidney Ova Charged makes a rare trip outside of her home state of Louisiana for the Unbridled Sidney. Although Ova Charged has been a consistent winner of statebred stakes and was Grade 3-placed in New York in 2021, the 6-year-old is currently in stellar form, having won four straight for trainer Shane Wilson after a transfer from Jose Camejo. While discussing how the mare has continued to improve late in her career, Wilson noted that Ova Charged is relatively lightly raced. She has won 12 of 15 career starts and has had regular breaks away from the racetrack for owner-breeder Brittlyn Stable. He also said progeny of sire Star Guitar – a millionaire who concluded his career with 10 straight stakes wins from ages 5 to 7 – tend to improve with age. “Star Guitar, the ones I’ve seen through the years, it seems like they all get better as they get older,” Wilson said. “They’re big horses, big-boned.” While Ova Charged is a stakes winner on both dirt and turf, Wilson feels she prefers grass, and she has shown that in her last two stars. She won the Mardi Gras Stakes against open company Feb. 19 at Fair Grounds, earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 102. There was more in the tank. Back against Louisiana-breds on March 24, Ova Charged dominated the Page Cortez Stakes by 12 1/2 lengths. Her Beyer of 113 is the best of the year through April 29. Kentucky Derby favorite Fierceness ran a 110 winning the Florida Derby. Ova Charged has just one published breeze since the race, which Wilson said is by design. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  “She puts a lot into her training every day,” he said. “She doesn’t have to have all the fast works. She pretty much takes care of herself fitness-wise.” Ova Charged, who breaks like a rocket, is well drawn in post 2 under Florent Geroux. Stone Silent, in post 3, has won three stakes in a row at Gulfstream Park and will likely press the pace. Tony Ann, one of two in the race for Phil D’Amato, would appreciate some pace to set up her run. The classy mare won the Grade 2 Franklin County Stakes last October at Keeneland by a neck over now-retired divisional standout Caravel. She then finished eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint against males, beaten less than four lengths. She is coming off two sharp works at Keeneland for her first start in six months. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.