Champion Sisterly Love gives turf a try in Nassau

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sisterly Love, Canada’s champion older female in 2013, will change surfaces to contest the first turf stakes of the Woodbine meet Sunday, the Grade 2, $200,000 Nassau. The one-mile event lured nine other fillies and mares, including the once-beaten Deceptive Vision.

Sisterly Love won both of her outings over Keeneland’s Polytrack in April, including the Grade 3 Doubledogdare, in which she upset Emollient after outdueling that rival up front.

Trainer Mark Casse was in awe of Sisterly Love’s performance and predicted that she’ll make a smooth transition to grass, a surface over which she has yet to compete.

“I don’t see why she wouldn’t get over it,” Casse said. “We see so many synthetic horses that run on the turf.”

Casse also entered the fast-working European import Queen’s Daughter and Northern Passion, who closed belatedly when returning from a sabbatical in an April 13 allowance at Keeneland. Deceptive Vision is unbeaten in three starts since losing her debut at 2 to future stakes winner Coffee Clique. Early in 2013, she won a maiden special weight race and an optional claimer on dirt at Fair Grounds. Following a one-year absence, the 4-year-old daughter of A.P. Indy overcame a troubled trip to capture a second-level optional claimer on the grass there Feb. 22.

“She’s a very good filly,” trainer Malcolm Pierce said. “I thought she was going to be my Oaks filly after she won two races in a row at Fair Grounds. The track was muddy for her second win, and she came out of it with a little injury. She had a year to the day off. When she came back, she ran a really good race for us on the turf.”

Pierce said he missed a third-level allowance with Deceptive Vision at Keeneland in April because she was excluded from the race due to an overflow of entries.

“We just decided to train her into the Nassau, which was always on our radar as her first try in a stakes,” Pierce said.

Solid Appeal, last year’s Canadian champion turf female, also was under consideration for Monday’s Grade 1 Gamely at Santa Anita by trainer Reade Baker. She checked in fifth in her season opener in the Doubledogdare.

Avie’s Sense could challenge Sisterly Love for the lead in her first turf engagement. She is out of Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes winner Fly for Avie.

Trainer Kevin Attard entered longshot Surtsey and Why Katherine, who had a productive winter stint at Gulfstream.