Cap Classique, Miss Harriett representing home team in Miss Preakness

BALTIMORE – The Maryland-based fillies Cap Classique and Miss Harriett were nominated to several stakes on Friday’s Black-Eyed Susan card at Pimlico Race Course, with their connections pondering distance and surface preferences and watching the weather forecast. Ultimately, both wound up in the Grade 3, $150,000 Miss Preakness Stakes at six furlongs on dirt, where they will take on the formidable Kentucky shipper Youalmosthadme.

Cap Classique, based at Maryland’s Fair Hill Training Center with Brittany Russell, has won on dirt and turf and was nominated to both the Miss Preakness and the $100,000 Hilltop Stakes, for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf. Russell said she “always thought she’d stretch a little bit” distance-wise, but ultimately, a shorter distance made sense as the filly makes her first start since December.

“She’s very effective on the dirt,” Russell said. “Where we are this time of year, I do think it’s going to be a tough ask off the shelf.”

Cap Classique followed a maiden win on the Colonial Downs turf last year with a pair of dirt wins at Laurel Park, including the Smart Halo Stakes. In both efforts, she rallied from off the pace. However, in the Gin Talking Stakes in December at Laurel, she showed more tactical speed, running in second throughout before finishing in that position, beaten two lengths by three-time stakes winner Carmelina, who she faces again here.

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Miss Harriett won the Maryland Million Lassie last fall and the Wide Country Stakes earlier this year, both sprinting at Laurel. She was third in the 1 1/16-mile Weber City Miss Stakes last time out.

Along with the Miss Preakness, Miss Harriett was nominated to the Hilltop and the Grade 2, $300,000 Black-Eyed Susan at 1 1/8 miles on dirt. Trainer Brandon McFarlane said the $100,000 The Very One Stakes, a turf sprint for fillies and mares, would have been his ideal surface and distance combination, but he chose to stay with Miss Harriett’s age division.

“I did want to try her on the turf,” McFarlane told Pimlico. “She does have some big turf feet. I don’t think there’s any reason why she couldn’t get over the turf at all. I’d rather go in the turf sprint if I could pick, but I’m not going to run her against older yet unless I have to. If I can run against straight 3-year-olds, I’ll do that all day long.”

Miss Harriett is based at Pimlico year-round.

“This time we’re coming right out of her own stall, walking right over,” McFarlane said. “It’s a different story now. She knows the track better than everyone.”

The Miss Preakness field also includes Grade 3-placed multiple stakes winner Closing Act; Gulfstream Park stakes winner Launch, who was Group 3-placed last year in Ireland; Let Them Watch and Mystic Lake, both stakes winners in Florida; the intriguing unbeaten Discreet Ops in her stakes debut; and allowance-level winners Belle’s Blue Bell, Lady Moscato, and Value Area.

However, the path clearly goes through three-time stakes winner Youalmosthadme, who ships in for Brad Cox having never missed the board. The filly’s career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 89 tops this field. Only Lady Moscato, Launch, and Mystic Lake have broken 80.

Youalmosthadme came to hand early, winning last year’s Kentucky Juvenile against males, before finishing third in the Ellis Debutante at seven furlongs after a terrible start, then second in the Grade 3 Pocahontas Stakes at a mile. Cut back to six furlongs, she ended her juvenile campaign winning the Myrtlewood and Fern Creek stakes.

Youalmosthadme was third in the Grade 2 Beaumont Stakes at seven furlongs last month at Keeneland.

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“She probably wasn’t quite as tight as I’d like to have had her in the Beaumont, and it was maybe a little too far for her, especially off the layoff,” Cox said. “Last summer, I tried to stretch her out a little bit between Ellis and Churchill. It didn’t work. We cut her back to three-quarters at Keeneland. That seems to be about all she wants.”

Youalmosthadme, who breaks from post 3 under regular rider Tyler Gaffalione, prefers to be on the engine, but did come from eighth to win the Fern Creek. Some tactical versatility should serve her and Cap Classique well. There is plenty of speed in the Miss Preakness lineup, coming from Mystic Lake – on the rail – Carmelina, Closing Act, Launch, Let Them Watch, and Miss Harriett.

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