Grammy Girl, Maida meet again in Endine Stakes
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Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. might have strength in numbers with three mares entered in the $200,000 Endine Stakes on Saturday at Delaware Park. But with Bob Baffert and Brittany Russell shipping graded stakes winners, his trio won’t have it easy.
Grammy Girl, the de facto leader of Joseph’s fleet in the field of 13 fillies and mares, kicked off her 2026 campaign with back-to-back Grade 3 victories at Aqueduct. She has faced off against the Russell-trained filly Maida in two starts since and will square off with her again at six furlongs at Delaware.
In the $125,000 Alma North at Laurel Park, Maida crushed Grammy Girl by 10 1/2 lengths before shipping to Saratoga to win the Grade 2 Honorable Miss. They met again in the Grade 1 Ballerina, a race Joseph targeted for Grammy Girl off a layoff, but they both went off at long odds and finished well behind.
“We were a bit ambitious and she was a little too close to the pace,” Joseph said. “We thought she’s better when she sits back and makes a run. So it was a very tough race. It took a toll. She obviously didn’t run her best.”
Joseph also entered Mystic Lake and Ultimate Authority in the Endine. Mystic Lake, a 10-time stakes winner, is looking for her first victory since March, while Ultimate Authority is cross-entered on synthetic on Saturday at Woodbine. Joseph said he will decide where to ship her Friday morning.
“Her best is going to be tough to win because it is a very good race,” Joseph said of Mystic Lake. “Maida is a very good horse and then there’s a couple others in there.”
Cash Call, a 4-year-old filly trained by Baffert, was entered in the $150,000 Obeah at Delaware in June but almost immediately scratched. She is scheduled to ship from Kentucky after three straight finishes in the money in listed stakes.
Wilmington Stakes
Quint’s Brew has recovered from a minor setback and will return to the Mid-Atlantic scene in the $100,000 Wilmington Stakes on Saturday. Trainer Ned Allard originally planned to ship him to Laurel for Maryland Million Day next week, but it was simply easier to stay home.
“He’s had a little bit of a break and he’s sharp as a tack,” Allard said. “He’s feeling really good. He doesn’t have to get on the van, doesn’t have to go anywhere. We can run right out of his stall.”
In one of the longest stints without a layoff in his career, Quint’s Brew caught fire earlier this year, winning 4 of 6 stakes starts between January and June. In July, he earned immense respect in defeat when he came up 1 1/4 lengths short to Book’em Danno in the $225,000 Mr. Prospector at Monmouth Park.
Allard entered the 5-year-old gelding in the $125,000 New Castle Handicap at Delaware and $150,000 Stable Recovery at Parx Racing in September, but he was slow to recover from an abscess in his right front hoof.
Earlier this year, Quint’s Brew made his long-awaited first start at his home track in the $100,000 Alapocas Run, closing to win by a half-length. He will break from the rail in another six-furlong sprint Saturday.
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