Harness: Alexa Skye ready to go after injury

Alexa Skye, a Grand Circuit-winning female pacer sidelined since late February because of a leg injury, is set to return to the races for new connections in Friday's $24,000 Open for fillies and mares at Hollywood Dayton Raceway.

A 5-year-old, Alexa Skye has won 18 of 54 career starts and earned $310,639. She raced most recently for Jeff Cullipher and Pollack Racing before being purchased for $150,000 at last month's Standardbred Horse Sale by Mr. Dana Parham and sent to the stable of trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. in Ohio.

Alexa Skye will start Friday from post four with Chris Page in the sulky. She is 4-1 on the morning line, the third choice in a field of seven. She heads to the race off a 1:55 4/5 win in a qualifier at Dayton on Nov. 25 with Page driving. Prior to her sale, she won a qualifier in 1:53 at Harrah's Hoosier Park with Trace Tetrick in the bike for Cullipher.

"Dana Parham is always trying to acquire quality mares," Morgan said. "His broodmare band, him and Eric Cherry, is second to none. You might find some as good, but you won't find any better. The intention is to race her and see how she does. Eventually, she will be a broodmare, but hopefully that's a couple years away.

"She qualified really good for Chris, and he liked her. So far so good. Obviously, she's a really good-looking mare, which is one of the reasons that Dana wanted to acquire her for a broodmare. She's a classy mare, really classy on the track. She's a good trainer, a good-feeling horse. I can't say anything negative about her."

Alexa Skye, a daughter of Somebeachsomewhere-Pirouette Hanover, was a four-time winner in the preliminary rounds of the 2021 Blue Chip Matchmaker Series at Yonkers Raceway. She finished fourth in the final, beaten a length from post six.

Over the course of her career, she has won seven times on half-mile tracks, six times on one-mile ovals, three times on seven-eighths, and twice on five-eighths.

"She's a versatile mare," Morgan said. "She's got a really kind mouth on her. She seems like the type you can leave with, or you can take off the gate, or put her on a helmet. She's just a pleasure to be around. She's a great addition to have for the stable, and I'm really happy that Dana got her for his future ventures."

Morgan plans to take one race at a time as Alexa Skye comes back before he determines any plans for next year.

"She was off for an extended period of time, so I don't want to put too much pressure on her right off the bat," Morgan said. "The first step is to race her and evaluate her. Hopefully, she will revert back to her previous form."