Honey Fox winner In Italian tops Distaff Turf Mile
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The stakes riches on a marathon Kentucky Derby Day Saturday at Churchill Downs kick off with the Grade 2, $500,000 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile.
The race has been slotted as the fifth of 14 on a card that kicks off at 10:30 a.m. It is the first of seven undercard stakes that precede the Kentucky Derby, which will go off shortly before 7 p.m.
The Distaff Mile has drawn a field of eight fillies and mares, including a pair from trainer Chad Brown. In Italian, winner of the Grade 3 Honey Fox in March at Gulfstream Park, is joined by new stablemate Speak of the Devil, who will make her first start in the U.S.
Those two, along with She Can't Sing, winner of back-to-back listed stakes at Fair Grounds, are the only members of this field coming in off victories in their most recent starts. However, the octet includes some serious back class. Lady Speightspeare is a Canadian Sovereign Award champion and Grade 1 winner; Abscond was also a Grade 1 winner as a juvenile in Canada.