Cursor, Eloquent Riddle hint they will relish Tempted's one-mile distance

A deep and promising group of 2-year-old fillies will sort itself out at a one-turn mile in the $200,000 Tempted Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday.

Of the seven entrants, five are coming off maiden wins, and the other two are dropping out of Grade 1 races. The last-out maiden winners Cursor and Eloquent Riddle both finished like they will enjoy the extra distance of the Grade 3 Tempted.

Cursor, trained by Mark Hennig, was second in her career debut at Saratoga to Sky Gesture, who also is in the Tempted. Sky Gesture stumbled at the start of her most recent race, the Grade 1 Frizette, and finished fifth.

Cursor was sluggish away from the gate in her second outing, made a steady advance on the far turn of the seven-furlong race, and then finished well to win by three lengths.

“She’s a big filly, Hennig said. “We think she’s going to like two turns best of all. She has a big, long stride.”

Eloquent Riddle, a Juddmonte Farms homebred trained by Chad Brown, will be making her second career start. She was bumped at the beginning of her 6 1/2-furlong debut, then had to wait for room behind the leaders on the far turn. She split horses and was taken to the inside for the stretch run, scoring by 2 3/4 lengths.

Miss Sky Warrior enters off a flashy seven-length maiden win at Parx Racing for trainer Kelly Breen, who won the Pumpkin Pie Stakes at Belmont Park last Sunday with the soon-to-be-retired Stonetastic.

Miss Sky Warrior stumbled badly at the start of her Oct. 15 win, recovered and went to the lead, and then found a new gear in the stretch.

“She’s big, close to 17 hands,” Breen said. “I’m hoping a tall filly with a long stride like her will be able to handle the longer distance. I sure hope she can. I need a nice filly to replace Stonetastic.”

Tempted, Race 8

Key Contenders

Cursor, by Quality Road

Last 2 Beyers: 75-72

◗ Hennig and owner Courtlandt Farms discussed sending her to the Breeders’ Cup.

“The Breeders’ Cup crossed our minds, but to go a route, two turns and have to ship, we thought this was a better way to go,” Hennig said.

Eloquent Riddle, by Harlan’s Holiday

First Beyer: 66

◗ She is the second foal out of the Juddmonte homebred Comic Marvel, who went 3 for 7, winning a Belmont maiden race and allowance races at Gulfstream and Keeneland.

Sky Gesture, by Tiznow

Last 2 Beyers: 54-77

◗ Her Frizette stumble may have prevented her from making the lead, and jockey Mike Smith said she lost a shoe during the race. She was in contention to upper stretch before tiring.

Berned, by Bernardini

Last 2 Beyers: 66-69

◗ Has run well in both of her starts for trainer Tom Albertrani, finishing a closing second at Saratoga and then coming from off the pace to win going a mile at Belmont.

“Distance should not be a factor for her,” Albertrani said.

◗ Albertrani held her out of the Frizette and pointed her to this race to give her more time between starts.

“After she broke her maiden, she got a little quiet on us, came a little bit out of her feed tub,” Albertrani said. “Now she’s doing good. She’s a lot stronger than in the weeks after she won. Her last couple of works have shown me she’s on top of her game.”

Miss Sky Warrior, by First Samurai

Last 2 Beyers: 77-78

◗ Although she looked good winning a Parx maiden race, the quality of the field she beat is questionable.