Brisset switches Impulse Buy to turf for Stormy Blues

After a disappointing 3-year-old debut in the Grade 2 Eight Belles, Impulse Buy will make her first turf start on Sunday at Laurel Park in the $100,000 Stormy Blues Stakes. The filly will be armed with raw talent against several seasoned turf runners.

“She’s a Speightstown filly and she’s trained on the Polytrack at Keeneland a couple times,” trainer Rodolphe Brisset said. “I think she’s very versatile and fast, so I’m not too worried.”

The Stormy Blues field of 11, along with two entered for the main track only, does not feature a turf stakes winner, leaving Impulse Buy as one of three with a stakes victory on dirt. In her final juvenile race in November, she overcame a slow start to win the $225,000 Fern Creek at Churchill Downs.

The field that day included Echo Town, who went on to win the Grade 3 Miss Preakness last month. Brisset regrets that he did not wait two weeks for that race instead of sending Impulse Buy to the Eight Belles. He was surprised when his filly went to the lead and wasn’t at all surprised when she faded to eighth after completing the opening half-mile in 44.17 seconds.

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“She was maybe a work short and the fact that she got pressure going that fast, it makes sense that she got tired the last eighth,” Brisset said. “I tend to blame myself more than anything.”

Brisset has not won with a horse making their turf debut since May 2022, a mark against his talented runner taking on this improving field of 3-year-old fillies.

Make Haste, a English-bred runner, ran in three Group 2 stakes in Europe before traveling to the United States and entering Christophe Clement’s barn. In two starts at Gulfstream Park, she finished fourth in the $115,000 Melody of Colors before leading every step of the way to win a conditioned allowance by 4 3/4 lengths in April.

Following the passing of Clement, Make Haste is now with his son Miguel, who originally entered her in the $175,000 Soaring Softly at Saratoga last weekend, but that race was taken off the turf. Poor weather this weekend could impact her chances again.

“You never know until you try it. I’ve never seen her breeze or train on soft turf. Her form in Europe was a touch inconsistent. Nevertheless, she’s by Blue Point. Hoping she’ll handle a little cut in the ground,” Clement said of the potentially soft turf at Laurel on Sunday.

Roja, trained by Graham Motion, may have an edge over the other contenders as she is one of three runners in the field with a turf victory at Laurel.

Brittany Russell’s pair of Gata Brazil and Biscuitwiththeboss are both compelling outsiders with wins at Laurel, but Roja’s 4 1/4-length maiden victory in Maryland last month stands out as the stronger qualifying performance. She earned an 82 Beyer Speed Figure that day, a vast improvement over her prior starts on dirt.

Trainer Amelia Green will bring Slightly Busy out of New York-bred competition for her stakes debut. The filly returned from a layoff of nearly nine months in April and won a $76,000 statebred allowance by 3 1/4 lengths.

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