Cathryn Sophia to run in newly created Princess of Sylmar Stakes

Parx Racing has added a new stakes to its schedule that is intended to serve as a prep for the Grade 1 Cotillion. The race fits nicely into the schedule of Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia, according to her trainer, John Servis.

The new race is the $150,000 Princess of Sylmar. It is for 3-year-old fillies at a mile. The Princess of Sylmar will be run Sept. 3, which is Pennsylvania's Day at the Races, when Parx will hold five $100,000 stakes for statebreds.

It is especially fitting that a race on Pennsylvania's Day at the Races be named for the Pennsylvania-bred Princess of Sylmar, who in 2013 consecutively won the Kentucky Oaks, Coaching Club American Oaks, Alabama, and Beldame Invitational.

Cathryn Sophia, a Maryland-bred daughter of Street Boss, is 5 for 7. Her wins include a pair of Grade 2s at Gulfstream Park, the Forward Gal and Davona Dale, and the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. In her most recent start, Cathryn Sophia finished third in the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park on June 11.

Servis freshened Cathryn Sophia following the Acorn and plans to breeze her Wednesday. Servis hopes to run Cathryn Sophia in the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga on Aug. 6 and then to use the Princess of Sylmar as a bridge to the 1 1/8-mile Cotillion.

The Princess of Sylmar is positioned three weeks prior to the Cotillion, a $1 million race for 3-year-old fillies. It is six weeks from the Cotillion to the Breeders' Cup, where Cathryn Sophia could meet older fillies and mares in the $2 million Distaff, a 1 1/8-mile race at Santa Anita.