Euro private-purchase Philly Eagles kicks off U.S. campaign in Miss Grillo
ELMONT, N.Y. – Philly Eagles will get a second chance to make a good first impression when she runs in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo Stakes for juvenile fillies scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on turf at Belmont Park.
Philly Eagles, purchased privately by owner Tracy Farmer following a winning debut in Great Britain in June, was scratched from the P.G. Johnson Stakes at Saratoga on Sept. 2 when that race was rained off the turf and moved to the dirt.
That gave trainer Mark Casse a little more time to get to know Philly Eagles, who had come from off the pace with a big turn of foot in her seven-furlong debut.
“Her first race was impressive,” Casse said. “I don’t know what she beat. I’m sure the extra time didn’t hurt things.”
Philly Eagles will break from post 5 under Dylan Davis.
Trainer Chad Brown has dominated the Miss Grillo over the years, winning seven of the last nine runnings. Three of those winners, Lady Eli, New Money Honey, and Newspaperofrecord, went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Brown on Saturday sends out McKulick and Kinchen in the Miss Grillo.
McKulick, a daughter of Frankel, showed a strong closing kick when she won her debut on Aug. 8 at Saratoga.
“She was impressive,” Brown said. “It looked like she had a little too much to do late in the race and she showed a lot of heart to get up in time.”
McKulick is named for the late Mary McKulick, a longtime office manager and bookkeeper for Brown and the first person the trainer hired when he launched his operation in 2007.
Kinchen, a daughter of Lope de Vega, finished second in her debut on Aug. 29 at Saratoga, but Brown felt she ran well enough and is treating that performance like a win.
“She found herself in some traffic inside,” Brown said. “She probably would have been a little braver if we got her in the clear, but that happens in baby races. We turn the page and hopefully she gets more of a better trip.”
Tyler Gaffalione rides Kinchen from post 4.
Hail To, a daughter of Kitten’s Joy and a half-sister to the Grade 1 winner Sadler’s Joy, beat Kinchen in that race after she finished fifth in her debut. Hail To goes out for trainer Tom Albertrani and will be ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr.
Sail By and Charlee O were both longshot maiden winners sprinting on turf here at the spring meet. Sail By, trained by Leah Gyarmati, finished second in the Colleen Stakes on turf at Monmouth Park before running third in the off-the-turf P.G. Johnson.
Charlee O, trained by Michelle Nevin, comes off a sixth-place finish in the Bolton Landing, run over soft turf.