Busanda distance lures Florida shipper Diamond Ore

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The allure of nine furlongs as well as a short field prompted trainer Barbara Minshall to ship the regally bred Diamond Ore from Florida to New York for Sunday’s $100,000 Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct.

The allure of her pedigree and a light field may attract the betting public to Diamond Ore as well in the 1 1/8-mile stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

Diamond Ore is by the top stallion Tapit and is a half-sister to the $17 million earner Arrogate, whose victories in the 2016 Travers at Saratoga and 2017 Dubai World Cup rank as some of the more electrifying performances in recent times.

Diamond Ore has yet to run very fast. She has just one win from four career starts, and that victory came in a mile and 40-yard maiden race at Tampa Bay Downs on Christmas Eve. It was a hard-fought victory, but Diamond Ore did get up by a half-length while racing wide throughout.

“It was her first time on the dirt at Tampa,” Minshall said. “I’m not stabled there, so she hadn’t had the chance to run over it. I had only breezed her once on dirt. That may have been a little bit of a factor. No question, the race was on the slow side. I thought she fought and then late she went on with it. I hope she moves forward.”

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Minshall said the 1 1/8 miles of this race was a factor in deciding to ship here as opposed to staying in Florida for a race like the Suncoast at a mile and 40 yards.

“I thought the mile and an eighth might suit her, especially this time of the year maybe not many want to go that far,” said Minshall, who has Eric Cancel to ride from the rail. “I’m pretty sure she wants to go that far.”

The Grass Is Blue is coming off a narrow loss when third in the Anne Arundel County Stakes at Laurel Park on Dec. 26. She was forced to go wide around the turn and in the stretch, and then was beaten two necks by Miss Leslie, a filly winning her third straight race.

“She had a difficult trip in there, but she did have an opportunity to go ahead and get it done late and wasn’t quite able to do it,” trainer Chad Brown said. “It was a big step up for her and we’ve always wanted to get her out that far and finally have the opportunity. She’s a horse that keeps improving and it looks like distance will be her friend.”

Brown will add blinkers to the The Grass Is Blue, who breaks from the outside post in the five-horse field.

Trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Mike Repole have both Coffee Bar and Traffic Lane entered in the Busanda. Coffee Bar, a daughter of Outwork, is coming off an 8 1/4-length maiden win on Jan. 10. Traffic Lane, whose maiden victory came on turf, finished fifth in the Grade 2 Demoiselle run over a sloppy track.

Wonderwall, a 10 1/4-length allowance winner at Laurel on Jan. 8 in her first start off the $25,000 claim by Claudio Gonzalez, completes the field.

The Busanda offers qualifying points on a 10-4-2-1 scale to the April 30 Kentucky Oaks.