Grayosh, Mischief in Motion square off again in Athenia Stakes
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Grayosh could only manage third as the clear-cut favorite behind the front-running longshot Mischief in Motion in the Sept. 26 All Along Stakes at Laurel. They will meet again Friday at Belmont in the $175,000 Athenia Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile inner turf route for fillies and mares.
Victorious in the Grade 2 Lake Placid in 2024, the Chad Brown-trained Grayosh won her second stakes in the Grade 3 Matchmaker going 1 1/8 miles at Monmouth in July. She moved up to Grade 2 company Aug. 22 in the Ballston Spa at Saratoga and checked in fourth after a wide trip.
After breaking slowly in the nine-furlong All Along, Grayosh ran three wide most of the way in midpack before making a bid entering the stretch. She was outfinished for second by Awesome Czech, who returned to capture the restricted Ticonderoga Stakes at Belmont.
In her second start off a long layoff, Mischief in Motion walked the dog up front in the All Along before coasting home on top at 25-1. The Mike Trombetta-trained daughter of Into Mischief could have company up front this time from the class-dropping Storm Miami if she employs an aggressive approach.
A need-the-lead type in longer routes, Storm Miami has maintained solid form since the spring under the guidance of trainer Amelia Green. The Irish-bred finished a lapped-on second in the Grade 3 Sheepshead Bay on May 1 at Aqueduct and was demoted from third to fourth when losing the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial by just a neck June 13 at Delaware.
Storm Miami finished second in the Grade 2 Glen Falls and the Grade 3 Waya, both at Saratoga in August. She assumed a stalking position for the first time in a while most recently here in the Grade 2 Flower Bowl and finished a sagging seventh behind Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf entrant Kathynmarissa. Fifth-place finisher Fionn subsequently ran second in the Grade 2 Dowager at Keeneland.
Trainer Joe Sharp sends out the late-blooming Ontario as well as Miwa, who came out on the short end of a two-horse race last time out at Kentucky Downs.
Ontario left trainer Josie Carroll’s Woodbine barn last fall and took some time to clear the first allowance condition for Sharp, doing so at Keeneland in April. The Ghostzapper mare won a 1 1/8-mile conditioned allowance/optional claimer two back at Saratoga. She was favored in the about nine-furlong Belfountain Stakes for Ontario-breds most recently at Woodbine, during which she had an ideal inside stalking trip before flattening out late to fourth.
Miwa prevailed in a one-mile conditioned allowance/optional claimer off a 6 1/2-month layoff at Churchill in June. After a chalky third in a July 11 stakes at Horseshoe Indianapolis, she was favored in the scratch-marred One Dreamer Stakes over the undulating Kentucky Downs course. Normally a closer, she inherited the lead in the two-horse affair before giving way in the final furlong to California shipper May Day Ready.
Completing the Athenia field are Princess Attitude and Starship Athena, who is coming off a victory in a highly restricted stakes at Delaware.
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