Hit Parade moves back to turf for Cleopatra
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Hit Parade, who won a prep for this year’s Kentucky Oaks, will switch back to turf Wednesday for the $150,000 Cleopatra Handicap at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
The race is one of three stakes on an 11-race card that begins at 2:10 p.m. Eastern. The $55,000 Corningstone and $55,000 Onesmoothoperator are sprints for 3-year-olds and up bred in Indiana. There is little chance of rain in the forecast.
The Cleopatra features 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf. It drew a field of 11 that includes the unbeaten East Jabip and the royally bred Soloist.
Hit Parade could go favored based on her credentials. She established herself as a talented dirt runner in December, when she won the Untapable, a Kentucky Oaks points race at Fair Grounds.
The win came on the heels of two other main-track victories, but before those starts, she had started her career on turf. Hit Parade was third in a maiden special weight at a mile on the grass last August. The race was over the local course and she showed speed, as she has in her dirt starts.
Hit Parade is a daughter of Street Sense who gets support for the turf from the bottom side of her pedigree. Her dam, Wedding Band, is by Candy Ride, who was a multiple Group 1 winner on the grass in his native Argentina before becoming a Grade 2 winner on turf in North America.
Declan Cannon has the mount on Hit Parade, who will be first-time Lasix. She will start from post 11 for Gary and Mary West and trainer Brad Cox.
East Jabip has won both of her starts to date and both of the races have come on the grass. She debuted at a mile at Gulfstream Park and one start later, East Jabip accounted for a first-level allowance route at Keeneland. Luis Saez has the mount from post 4 for trainer Brian Lynch.
Soloist is a daughter of Into Mischief and the Grade 1-winning mare Daddys Lil Darling. She is a half-sister to Group 1 Irish Oaks winner Savethelastdance.
Soloist is a seasoned turf runner who last fall ran a good fourth in the Grade 2 Jessamine at Keeneland. Her dam was a Grade 1 winner on the grass who overall earned $1.3 million.
Kenny McPeek trained Daddys Lil Darling and he also conditions Soloist. Manny Esquivel has the mount from post 9.
Corningstone
The McPeek-trained Corningstone, a standout Indiana-bred who was retired earlier this season with earnings of $979,978, has a new race named in her honor. The Corningstone Handicap is a six-furlong sprint restricted to fillies and mares who were bred in Indiana.
Imagine the Moon leads the seven-horse field in earnings with $416,022. The stakes winner, trained by Tony Duran, is launching her 6-year-old season after finishing second by a head in an overnight handicap in her most recent outing on Oct. 25.
Onesmoothoperator
The Onesmoothoperator – at six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up bred in Indiana – drew a full field of 12.
Sleepy is one of five in the field trained by Randy Klopp and he could go favored. He is seeking to win his sixth consecutive race in a streak that began in a first-level allowance at a mile last October and has continued through an overnight handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs in his most recent out April 7.
Fernando De La Cruz has the mount for Reese Ranch.
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