Interstatedaydream makes stop at Ellis for Groupie Doll

Interstatedaydream has had her share of road trips but will stay closer to home for Sunday’s $150,000 Groupie Doll Stakes at Ellis Park, which could be her springboard into a return to graded stakes company this fall as her career potentially winds down.

Interstatedaydream is one of the most accomplished runners on a busy Sunday at Ellis Park, with six stakes on tap. The Groupie Doll, for fillies and mares going a mile, is joined by the $100,000 R.A. “Cowboy” Jones Stakes for older horses as a companion. The richest race on the card is the $250,000 Ellis Park Derby, with the $150,000 Audubon Oaks as the sister race. The $150,000 Ellis Park Juvenile and $150,000 Ellis Park Debutante round out the action.

Interstatedaydream, a 4-year-old Classic Empire filly trained by Brad Cox for Staton Flurry’s Flurry Racing Stables, has only missed the board once in 11 starts while taking her talents to eight tracks in seven different states. Her résumé is highlighted by victories in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan and Grade 3 Indiana Oaks last year, and the Allaire duPont Distaff this May.

Most recently, Interstatedaydream raced wide while second in the Lady Jacqueline Stakes on June 24 at Thistledown. She has been breezing at Cox’s Churchill Downs base, and while her connections had discussed sending her to Del Mar for the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes on Aug. 5, a shorter van ride to Ellis and a bit more time between races ultimately ruled the day.

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“She is one that seems to take a little bit of time in between races to bounce back – she is a horse that needs five or six weeks,” Flurry said. “We just were worried that the shipping [to Del Mar] wouldn’t be the best thing in the world for her. Let’s just keep her close to home and use this kind of as a gauge of where she’s at.”

Flurry said Interstatedaydream is likely to be sold as a broodmare prospect this November in Kentucky. The timing of the Groupie Doll would allow her to target a final graded stakes before that – perhaps in the Grade 3, $400,000 Locust Grove on Sept. 16 at Churchill Downs.

“She’s a horse that lays it all on the line every time she runs,” Flurry said. “She’s 110 percent effort. . . . We’d love to get some more graded on the page.”

Interstatedaydream, drawn in post 5 under Florent Geroux, is likely to have a solid pace to sit off for an ideal trip in the Groupie Doll. Non Violence is coming off a hard-fought second in the Twin Bridges at Ellis to the talented Wicked Halo. She has drawn the rail under Reylu Gutierrez and should again show the way. Joining her should be front-running Iowa Distaff winner Coastal Charm, drawn next door in post 2, and Ice Orchid, who chased while second in the Iowa Distaff.

With Interstatedaydream in the Groupie Doll and Zozos in the Cowboy Jones, Cox and Geroux have a good chance to sweep the older-horse races on Sunday’s card. Zozos, who will be forwardly placed out of post 6 in the field of nine, has won three straight races, including the Knicks Go at Churchill Downs and the Hanshin last month at Ellis. Both of those races came at a mile, and thus Zozos also has experience with the configuration of mile dirt races at Ellis, where the horses run straight through the chute and first turn before swinging onto the backstretch.

Here Mi Song was in career form this spring, winning the Grade 3 Commonwealth at Keeneland and finishing a creditable fourth in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs, both at seven furlongs. He was vanned off following the latter, but emerged sound, with trainer Billy Stinson Jr. suggesting the gelding was leg-weary after a pacesetting effort necessitated by his inside draw that day. Here Mi Song showed he was ready to resume his campaign with a victory in the Jeff Hall Memorial on July 22 at Ellis.

Here Mi Song, who prefers not to be stuck inside, is well-drawn in post 8 under Alex Achard as he stretches back out to a mile. He was second in his only try at the distance, on a sloppy track last fall at Churchill.

Iowa Derby winner How Did He Do That is likely to go favored in the Ellis Derby for Steve Asmussen. The only other stakes winner in the group is Release McCraken, who won the Texas Thoroughbred Association Derby in March for Bret Calhoun.

Among those looking to step up to stakes company as age-restricted opportunities will begin to dwindle is the lightly raced Loyal Company. The colt is coming off a 2 3/4-length allowance win around one turn at Ellis, in which he made a bold bid and drew off.

“He showed a liking for the track the last time, he’s been doing well since, so I think it’s a good spot for him,” trainer Brendan Walsh said. “We’ve always thought highly of him. I thought he ran really well the last time, and the fact that it was [at Ellis] kind of made us say, let’s try it. The mile should suit him really well.”

Topsy, also from the Asmussen barn, gets class relief in the sister race, the seven-furlong Audubon Oaks. The filly was second in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness, second in the Leslie’s Lady, and sixth in the Grade 3 Victory Ride in her three most recent outings.

Merlazza, winner of the Valley Of The Vapors Stakes at Oaklawn, also is getting some class relief for Cox after finishing off the board in a pair of graded stakes. Joining her as the other stakes winner in the field is Santa Fe Gold, who won the TTA Oaks for Calhoun.

Rounding out the stakes action are the Juvenile and its sister race, the Debutante. Call Me Andy is the only Juvenile entrant with prior stakes experience, finishing third in the Bashford Manor Stakes at Ellis. Walsh also will saddle Omex, a maiden who has faced solid company.

“They’re two nice horses – probably not much between them,” Walsh said. “Call Me Andy ran well [in the Bashford Manor]. This race is a good spot for him. Omex just got a little far back the last day, but came second with a very nice run and got beaten by a nice horse. I feel if he can move up off of that at all, it should make him competitive, especially going the seven-eighths.”

Youalmosthadme returns to action in the Debutante. The filly was an impressive Keeneland debut winner for John Hancock, after which she was privately sold and transferred to Cox, who promptly sent her out for an 8 3/4-length win in the Kentucky Juvenile on May 4. Following that race, he said he was eager to get her into his program; she has breezed five times in Kentucky leading up to her return.

Easy Red, trained by Doug O’Neill, finished third in Churchill’s edition of the Debutante that shifted to Ellis in early July. She was flattered when the winner, Brightwork, came back to win the Grade 3 Adirondack at Saratoga.

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