Dream Rush gets another Grade 1 chance

ELMONT, N.Y. - Dream Rush may never have had a better chance to win a Grade 1 race than last month's Acorn. Unless, of course, it's this Saturday's $250,000 Prioress Stakes.

As the only member of the field with a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure to her credit, Dream Rush looks like a strong favorite to rebound from her second-place finish in the Acorn in the Grade 1 Prioress at six furlongs.

Dream Rush, who won the Grade 3 Old Hat and Grade 2 Nassau County Breeders' Cup, was sent off as the 3-5 favorite in the Acorn. She opened up a three-length lead after running six furlongs in 1:09.13 but was run down inside the sixteenth pole by Cotton Blossom.

"It was a tough beat," trainer Rick Violette said. "Cotton Blossom ran her career best by far. We were eight [lengths] in front of the next horse. We thought we were winners at the head of the lane and we ended up second. She was kind of hard on the bridle down the backside and didn't really relax the way we wanted her to. You've got to lick your wounds and go on."

Though Dream Rush has made the pace in her last three starts, she has run well stalking. The fact that she drew the outside post in this nine-horse field should give jockey Eibar Coa options.

"If a couple of them want to get stupid and go 21, we can monitor it, or we can seize the day and go for the gusto," said Violette, who won the Grade 2 Tom Fool with High Finance on Wednesday. West Point Stable, which owns High Finance, also owns Dream Rush.

There are a number of horses that could show early speed, including Her Majesty, who won a first-level allowance race at Churchill Downs for trainer Patrick Biancone; Appealing Zophie, who won the Grade 1 Spinaway last year at Saratoga; and Half Time Crown.

Silver Knockers, trained by Nick Zito, would probably benefit from a hotly contested pace. After winning her first two starts, Silver Knockers finished second in the Grade 2 Forward Gal at Gulfstream, seventh in the Grade 1 Ashland over the Polytrack at Keeneland, and second in the Gradeo3 Miss Preakness at Pimlico.

She has trained brilliantly since that race, firing two bullet works over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga. She gets a six-pound weight break from Dream Rush and Appealing Zophie.

"I think she's a top filly and she hasn't shown it yet," Zito said. "You always like to be in the clear, but she could come from behind, that's for sure. She's a good filly - let's see what happens."

Cash's Girl is another horse who could be successful from off the pace. She comes in off a second-level allowance score on June 1 over this track. Though she was initially given a 96 Beyer Speed Figure, that number has since been downgraded to an 83.

"I made a mistake and I made a correction," said Mark Hopkins, who makes the Beyer Speed Figures for Belmont Park. "I misread my notes."