Disco Star has turf edge in Cupecoy's Joy if rain stays away
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Looking at the past performances, one would be hard pressed to know that Saturday’s $150,000 Cupecoy’s Joy Division of the New York Stallion Series is scheduled for the turf. Of the five 3-year-old fillies entered, only Disco Star has won on the grass and the pedigrees of the other four hardly scream turf.
So, provided the six-furlong Cupecoy’s Joy stays on Aqueduct’s outer turf course, Disco Star looks well spotted to earn her first stakes win for trainer Mark Casse. The ever-changing forecast as of Thursday morning removed the rain for Saturday that was in earlier forecasts.
Disco Star, a daughter of Disco Partner, won her maiden over Aqueduct’s inner turf by 4 3/4 lengths last October. More recently, Disco Star ran a very good third, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the Take the A Train Stakes against open company here on May 10. Disco Star broke slowly, was last of nine early, then came with a decent run to finish behind Love Cervere, who came outside of Disco Star in the stretch.
“I thought it was really good,” Casse said of Disco Star’s performance in the Take the A Train. “It was a nice race. Not surprising. I always thought she was pretty good.”
Disco Star will have to overcome her tendency to break slowly but there appears to be a lack of speed in this five-horse field.
Mischief Lady, trained by Ed Barker, is the speed of the field under Ricardo Santana Jr. Mischief Lady tried turf once, in her career debut at Saratoga last Aug. 14 – a race in which Disco Star finished second – and was a well-beaten sixth. Barker said Mischief Lady was probably around 60 percent fit for that race and he was using it as a workout.
Since then, Mischief Lady has two wins and a second from four starts on dirt. She hasn’t been out since winning an allowance race in January. Barker said the break did Mischief Lady a world of good physically and mentally, though he admits he’d rather see this race on the dirt than the turf.
“I don’t have an opinion on whether she would grass or not, but I know I’ll be on the lead and maybe she’ll keep going on the grass, Barker said. “If it comes off, even better.”
Storm Changer won the Park Avenue division of the NYSS in the mud here on April 13, a race in which Disco Star finished third. Storm Changer ran under trainer Carlos Martin’s name that day because regular trainer Dimitrios Synnefias was serving a suspension. Synnefias is back and Storm Changer will try negotiate a trip from the rail under Jose Gomez in what will be Storm Changer’s turf debut.
Boston’s Phinest was beaten only two lengths in her turf debut last out. She is 1 for 6 on dirt, the win coming last September in a 12-horse field of maidens.
Royal Event, trained by Martin, finished seventh in the same turf race Boston’s Phinest finished fourth in on May 24.
With only five runners, the Cupecoy’s Joy is carded as race 2 on a 10-race program that begins at 1:10 p.m.
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