Delahaye looms the one to beat in Mint Julep

Trainer Chad Brown has mainly decamped to New York now, but, of course, he still has a filly at Churchill Downs for Sunday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Mint Julep Stakes.

Brown runs top horses in all divisions but nowhere is his stable as strong as with older fillies and mares in turf routes. The Mint Julep is a 1 1/16-mile grass race, and the Brown-trained Delahaye is the one to beat.

Delahaye raced last month at Churchill in the Distaff Turf Mile and finished a respectable third behind Chili Flag and Coppice – both trained by Brown. Those two horses are breezing with Brown’s string at Saratoga, while Delahaye remained at Churchill to try and win her first graded race.

Brown said before the Distaff Turf Mile that he’d bounced around the idea of trying Delahaye at longer trips. It makes sense. The 4-year-old filly, by Medaglia d’Oro, is more a steady-paced runner than a horse with an electric burst. She finished fine in the Distaff Turf Mile but was out-quicked to the wire by her two stablemates. Delahaye had a three-race win streak broken last month, having run out maiden and first-level turf allowance wins in Florida before beating moderate opposition in the Tom Benson Memorial at Fair Grounds. She need only hold her form, which seems likely, to contend.

Heavenly Sunday could prove her equal. Another 4-year-old, Heavenly Sunday also made her first 2024 start last month at Churchill, trainer Brad Cox opting for the 1 1/8-mile Modesty over the Distaff Turf Mile. A filly who prefers forward placements, Heavenly Sunday set the pace in the Modesty, run over a yielding course, and held firm to the eighth pole before giving way and finishing fourth beaten 1 1/4 lengths. Cutting back a half-furlong helps her.

“Second race off the bench and I think she likes Churchill,” Cox said. “I think she got a lot out of that last run.”

Immensitude rates a solid chance at longer odds than Delahaye and Heavenly Sunday. The 4-year-old filly was bred in France and made her first eight starts there, establishing herself as a solid Group 3 performer at 1 1/8 miles.

“A lot of times, if they’re a [Group] 3 type over there, sometimes they can move up over here,” said Immensitude’s trainer, Bill Mott.

Mott gave Immensitude her North American debut in a Keeneland third-level allowance where she chased a decent pace and finished fourth. The winner, Girl Named Charlie, won the Miss Liberty Stakes last weekend at Monmouth, and Immensitude should be set for something better.

“She made a run, moved up, and had no excuse, but I think it was a useful race,” Mott said. “We’d like to see some improvement.”

Henrietta Topham won this race a year ago but has only managed a third-place finish in the interim. She’s been off since October and races for the first time as a 6-year-old. The Mint Julep looks like a race for the 4-year-old set.

◗ Extra Anejo, unraced since the Haskell Invitational in July, was a strong comeback winner Thursday at Churchill, easily winning a stakes-level, seven-furlong allowance race with a career-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure for owner Winchell Thoroughbreds and trainer Steve Asmussen.

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