Grammy Girl shows affinity for the Big A with Distaff victory
?q=100)
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. chose the Grade 3 Distaff Stakes to bring Grammy Girl back to the races off a layoff because of the mare’s affinity for Aqueduct.
That proved to be the right call as Grammy Girl continued her love affair with the main track at Aqueduct as she rallied from last in a scratch-reduced field of four to win the $139,500 Distaff by 1 1/2 lengths. Immersive, the 2024 champion 2-year-old filly, got second by a head over Jody’s Pride. Hold Your Breath faded to fourth after setting the pace.
The Distaff originally was carded with eight horses. Takethemoneyhoney, Boutwell Time, With the Angels and Lucille Ball all scratched due to various reasons. Boutwell Time won the three-horse Primonetta at Laurel.
Grammy Girl, who was making her first start since she won the Willa on the Move at Laurel last Nov. 22, improved her record to 6 for 19, four of those wins coming at Aqueduct.
Despite the bevy of scratches, there still remained ample speed in the race. Hold Your Breath, under Kendrick Carmouche, was sent to the front and set fractions of 22.92 seconds for the quarter and 45.66. Immersive, under Manny Franco and Jody’s Pride, under Paco Lopez were in chase mode while Castellano was a bit more patient aboard Grammy Girl in fourth.
Castellano advanced Grammy Girl four-wide around the turn and she had plenty of run in the stretch to make the lead in mid-stretch and she finished up a handy winner.
Grammy Girl, owned by Red Storm Stable, Miller Racing and Flower Power Stables, covered the seven furlongs in 1:23.47 and returned $11.30.
“Small field but a lot of speed in the race, I had a great post outside just keep track of the speed,” Castellano said. “I rode with a lot of patience, I think that was the key to win the race today. … It worked out great, she finished really strong.”
Immersive was the 2-year-old filly champion with two of those wins coming around two turns. She hadn’t started since winning the Seneca Overnight Stakes last Sept. 25 at Churchill Downs, also at two turns.
Though Immersive did win the Grade 1 Spinaway going seven furlongs at 2, Franco believes the filly would benefit from more distance in the future.
“First time coming from a layoff and I felt like she wants to go a little further than that in the future,” Franco said. “It was a good effort I don’t think it was her distance today.”
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.