Coffee Clique eyes Distaff Turf Mile repeat

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If Coffee Clique got as much out of her comeback race as trainer Brian Lynch thinks she did, there’s a very good chance she could repeat in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile.

Sidelined by bone bruising after winning the Grade 1 Just a Game at Belmont Park last June 7, Coffee Clique didn’t run again until March 28, when she finished third as the 2-1 favorite in the Grade 2 Honey Fox Handicap at Gulfstream Park. That day, she finished behind Lady Lara and Sandiva, both of whom are in this 13-horse field.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way she came out of it,” Lynch said. “I thought she ran super, has really trained on nicely. No excuses going into this race.”

Coffee Clique will get a rider change from Luis Saez to John Velazquez for the Distaff Turf Mile, a race she won last year with Javier Castellano aboard. Castellano rides Sandiva for Todd Pletcher.

In addition to the top three finishers from the Honey Fox, other horses of note in the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile are I’m Already Sexy, a multiple stakes winner who has not been out since February, and the European import Water Hole, a listed stakes winner who makes her seasonal and U.S. debut in this spot for new trainer Chad Brown.

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Key contenders

Coffee Clique (Last 3 Beyers: 94-98-97)

* Though she won off the layoff last year before winning this race, she could manage only a third-place finish in her return this year. It was a tougher race, and because she was returning from injury, “we didn’t crank on her to get ready,” Lynch said.

* Has won four 4 of 7 starts at a mile, including the Grade 1 Just a Game.

Lady Lara (Last 3 Beyers: 97-86-90)

* Has won 2 of 3 starts in this country – both at a mile – with a second-place finish in the Mrs. Revere Stakes over this course last November. The Mrs. Revere was her ninth start of the year, and she was running back a month after a sharp effort in the Pebbles Stakes at Belmont.

“By the time she ran here, she needed a little time off, which she got, so hopefully she’s in much better form coming into this than she was late in the fall last year,” trainer Bill Mott said.

* Showed some versatility by laying closer to the pace in the Honey Fox than she had in previous races.

“She still had a good turn of foot,” Mott said. “She out-finished some nice horses. She didn’t get quite as far back, which you can’t at Gulfstream or else you’re screwed.”

Sandiva (Last 3 Beyers: 96-91-88)

* Had a two-race winning streak snapped when beaten a neck by Lady Lara in the Honey Fox, a race in which trainer Todd Pletcher felt that “maybe she made the lead a touch quick.”

* Finished behind Lady Lara three times and is winless in six starts at a mile.