Happy Soul will be more content sprinting in Miss Preakness
Trainer Wesley Ward has won two of the last four editions of Pimlico’s Grade 3, $150,000 Miss Preakness Stakes, and looks to add to that collection Friday with the talented Happy Soul.
“It fits in well with my schedule,” Ward said about the six-furlong dash for 3-year-old fillies. “I try to run everything at Keeneland. Whatever 3-year-old sprinting filly I have, that’s the right timing for them.”
Happy Soul last raced in the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland on April 8. Trying her hand around two turns for the first time, she pressed the pace over the wet-fast track before tiring badly to finish sixth, beaten 25 lengths by subsequent Kentucky Oaks runner-up Nest.
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“Johnny [Velazquez] said they were going easy, but when they hit the three-eighths pole, she was done,” said Ward. “I think she knew how much farther she had to go and said, ‘forget it.’ ”
Happy Soul is back to her best game – sprinting – in the Miss Preakness. She is unbeaten in three fast dirt sprints, including back-to-back victories in New York last year by a combined 23 1/4 lengths.
After romping in the Astoria at Belmont on June 3, Happy Soul was sent to Saratoga to prep for the Grade 3 Schuylerville.
“Once she got there, she had a temperature and then she got really sick,” Ward explained. “She got pneumonia really bad. We almost lost her.”
Placed under the care of Dr. Luis Castro, Happy Soul eventually shipped back to Kentucky, was turned out, and recovered. She won her seasonal debut, the Dixie Belle at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 19.
Happy Soul has trained well since the Ashland.
“These subsequent works have been awesome,” Ward said. “I have a nice filly in Tiz Splendid News. In the last work, she was much the best of that filly and did it with her ears pricked.”
Saucy Lady T, Grade 1-placed last year at 2 for trainer James Chapman, makes her seasonal debut after being purchased by Gary Broad for $425,000 at the Keeneland January sale.
“She hasn’t missed a beat,” said her new conditioner, Graham Motion. “I had this race in mind a little bit. She’s ready to run. Feargal [Lynch] breezed her last weekend with Divine Huntress [an entrant in the Black-Eyed Susan]. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wanted to go a little farther.”
Lady Scarlet, claimed for $150,000 at Churchill Downs last fall by trainer Michael Maker, captured the Cicada at Aqueduct on March 19. She drew post 3.
“It was the perfect setup for her, and she ran a strong race,” Maker said about the Cicada. “I wish we drew a little farther outside for this round.”
Lady Scarlet finished fourth, beaten 11 lengths in the Grade 3 Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland on April 10.
“I think seven-eighths is a little too far, but she did run into a very nice filly [next-out Eight Belles winner Matareya] so we expect another strong effort,” said Maker.
Verylittlecents finished second, three lengths behind Happy Soul, in the Dixie Belle.
“She had the inside and got shuffled back, but she was second best,” said trainer Randy Morse. “That Happy Soul was really good that day.”
Morse added that Verylittlecents emerged from her next start, a fourth-place finish in Oaklawn’s Purple Martin on March 26, with some foot issues, but that she’s “doing very well. I didn’t like seeing Happy Soul in there again. If she could be as good as third, that’d be good.”
La Casa d’Oro steps up significantly in class following a maiden special weight victory at Laurel Park on April 22. “She’s just classy,” said trainer Brittany Russell. “We’re going to test her, and we’ll be happy if we can get a piece of it.”
Under the Stars, Sweet Solare, and Gimmick also are entered.
The Very One
Honey Pants, thrice stakes-placed from 12 lifetime starts, is the morning-line favorite for the $100,000 The Very One at five furlongs on turf.
Trained by Christophe Clement, Honey Pants prepped for the race with a victory in a second-level allowance with a $62,500 claiming option at Gulfstream Park on April 9. She earned a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure while wearing blinkers for the first time.
“Irad Ortiz rode her the time before that,” said Clement. “He told us we should try blinkers and he was right.”
Honey Pants breezed a half-mile in 48.88 seconds at Belmont Park on May 10.
“We gave her plenty of time because the last race was such a strong performance,” said Clement. “She’s better since we turned her back in distance.”
Ex-claimer Payntdembluesaway has won 9 of 15 starts for trainer Jane Cibelli and owns more speed than Honey Pants. The 6-year-old Paynter mare was an easy winner of the Lightning City at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 19.
“She had a very serious foot issue earlier in her career that took forever to get over,” said Cibelli. “Each time she runs, she gets a little bit better. We started her out cheap, tried to get some confidence in her, and it’s worked out.”
Cibelli was pleased when Payntdembluesaway drew post 10 in the 12-horse The Very One. “She’s very predictable the way she runs. She likes to be on the outside.”
Cibelli mentioned that Payntdembluesaway will also be cross-entered in Saturday’s Politely Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Phantom Vision only raced four times in 2021, culminating in a seventh-place finish in last year’s Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico.
“She stepped on her shoe right before the riders were up and she wound up getting an abscess on that spot,” trainer Maker said. “It kept re-occurring, so we gave her some time to get over it.”
Phantom Vision won her first two starts this year, both five-furlong events over Gulfstream’s Tapeta surface. She finished eighth in the Giant’s Causeway Stakes on turf at Keeneland on April 16.
“The competition was pretty strong,” said Maker. “I think the little drop in class will do her justice.”
Princess Kokachin, Dendrobia, Can the Queen, Door Buster, Whispurring Kitten, Epic Idea, Spun Glass, and Adelaide Miss also are entered. Hey Mamaluke is main-track only.