Edgewood trio favored for rematch in Regret

Multiple graded stakes winner Buchu was last seen under colors in the Grade 2 Edgewood Stakes on the Kentucky Oaks undercard, when her late run lacked punch on a yielding turf course, finishing sixth. She looks to rebound against a competitive field, including Edgewood runner-up Way to Be Marie, in the Grade 3, $275,000 Regret Stakes Saturday, another tilt for 3-year-old fillies on the Churchill Downs turf.

The Regret is one of three turf stakes on the Churchill card, all designed to lead to stakes on the track’s big June 29 Stephen Foster program. The Regret is meant to correspond with the $250,000 Tepin, while its brother race, the $275,000 Audubon Stakes, leads to the $250,000 American Derby. Rounding out the trio is the Grade 3, $275,000 Arlington Stakes, which links to the Grade 2, $500,000 Wise Dan.

Buchu won the Grade 2 Jessamine last fall at Keeneland, and the Grade 2 Appalachian on the same course in her 3-year-old debut for Phil Bauer. Both were contested on ground labeled good. The Edgewood was run on a yielding Churchill course that took rain overnight, and throughout a drizzly Friday. Buchu loomed into fourth with a wide bid in the stretch, but could not sustain that run and flattened out late to finish sixth.

The filly is one of three emerging from the Edgewood, as Way to Be Marie ran a creditable second in her stakes debut, and Dancing N Dixie rallied from 10th to be third.

Way to Be Marie was a front-running, 6 1/4-length allowance winner against older foes in March at Fair Grounds. She stalked the pace in the Edgewood, poked a head in front at the stretch call, and was ultimately caught by Dynamic Pricing to finish second by a half-length.

“We were pretty high on her going in…. We spaced her races out nice and let her develop over the winter, so we were expecting her to run well,” trainer Rob Atras said. “It was a great race, and you hate to get beat like that, but we were really happy with the way she ran.”

Way to Be Marie has drawn the rail under Florent Geroux, and will likely be forwardly placed in the Regret. The filly is one of three in this field – along with maiden winners Pin Up Betty and Sassy Princess – to win at the 1 1/8-mile distance, a trip Atras feels his filly, with her high cruising speed, will continue to stay well.

If Way to Be Marie is forwardly placed, she could get company from the likes of Hello Hollywood and Sassy Princess. A good pace up front would suit Buchu and Dancing N Dixie.

"This will be a good test for her going nine furlongs for the first time," Bauer told track publicity of Buchu. "The plan is definitely to keep her reserved early to save some energy for her late kick."

Another potential pace player, Faith Understood, will scratch to run in the Honeymoon at Santa Anita.

Pace would also suit Everland, winner of the Bourbonette Oaks on Turfway Park’s Tapeta, if she is able to transfer her good form from synthetic surfaces to turf. She subsequently was a creditable fifth in the Kentucky Oaks in her first try on dirt, and emerged from that effort with a bullet work at Ellis Park. Everland has made one start on turf, finishing sixth in a Kentucky Downs maiden last September – but she has developed a great deal since.

The Regret, more than half a century old, has been a solid recent harbinger of success in the filly and mare turf division. Since 2000, winners have included future Grade 1 winners Sand Springs (2003), Pure Clan (2008), Centre Court (2012), Kitten’s Dumplings (2013), and Harvey’s Lil Goil (2020). Plenty of also-rans have emerged to find success – including Tepin, who made her first start on grass finishing a troubled eighth in the 2014 edition, then went on to be a two-time Eclipse Award champion in the division.

The Audubon, added to the spring meet stakes schedule in 2020, doesn’t yet have as rich a history, but is already establishing itself as a solid divisional benchmark. The first three winners of the race – Field Pass, Cellist, and Kitodan – all later won graded stakes. Last year’s winner, Webslinger, who came in off a Grade 2 score, is three times Grade 1-placed since the Audubon.

On paper, this year’s Audubon looked as though it could hinge on a matchup on the front end between Formidable Man and Twirling Point. However, Twirling Point is cross-entered in the Jersey Derby at Monmouth Park and is expected to run there - which makes things easier for Formidable Man, and perhaps more difficult for the late runners.

Formidable Man, trained by Michael McCarthy, is the only member of this field to win at the 1 1/8-mile distance, doing so when he won an allowance/optional-claiming race in March at Santa Anita. He then finished second in the Grade 2 American Turf on the Kentucky Derby undercard – run over a drying course labeled good – setting the pace before giving way by 1 1/2 lengths to Trikari. The latter finished third in the Grade 3 Penn Mile on Friday night.

Also emerging from the American Turf is the group of Lagynos, who closed mildly for third, his second consecutive graded placing; the consistent Cugino, who came on for fourth; and Can Group, a Grade 2-winning juvenile, who finished ninth.

Arlington Stakes

Ottoman Fleet is one of several who have made the trip to the United States this year for trainer Charlie Appleby’s string, which is already off to another strong start on this continent. The gelding looks to bounce back after an adventurous trip last time out as he goes in the Grade 3 Arlington, the older-horse turf feature on Saturday at Churchill.

The consistent multiple graded/group stakes winner Ottoman Fleet made a successful raid on New York last year, winning the Grade 2 Fort Marcy and finishing third in the Grade 1 Manhattan. While attempting to repeat in the Fort Marcy on May 4, he bobbled at the start, then was left racing behind a slow pace in the field of five. He ducked out when making his bid into the stretch, as Master Piece ultimately came up the inside to win by a neck. Speaking to track publicity after the race, jockey Richard Mullen said the slow pace hampered his mount. Appleby, in a statement issued by owner Godolphin, called it “another solid race.”

Flavien Prat has the call Saturday on Ottoman Fleet, who will likely have more pace to run at in this field of eight. Five-time graded stakes winner Emmanuel, Churchill Grade 2 winner Stitched, and stakes winner Northern Invader have all shown a propensity to race on or near the lead.

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