Keeneland: Inglorious tries to end seven-race losing streak in Doubledogdare Stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Josie Carroll never imagined that nearly two years after Inglorious won the prestigious Queen’s Plate, her stable star would still be looking for her first victory since that unforgettable June day.

“Obviously, you don’t think that way,” Carroll said.

Nonetheless, here is Inglorious looking to snap a seven-race losing streak Friday at Keeneland in the Grade 3 Doubledogdare Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile Polytrack race in which the 5-year-old mare figures as a major contender.

Eight fillies and mares are entered in the Doubledogdare, with Inglorious and Mystical Star the most accomplished.

With the exception of a 35-length drubbing she took in the Alabama Stakes, which came in her first start after her 2011 Queen’s Plate triumph, Inglorious has been very respectable in defeat, never finishing worse than fourth while always pitted against classy company. Her lone foray outside the graded-stakes ranks came here last spring, when second in a grass allowance in which Marketing Mix and Hungry Island, both multiple graded stakes winners, ran first and third.

Perhaps even more impressive was her most recent appearance here, when she was the runner-up behind In Lingerie in the Grade 1 Spinster over the Polytrack last fall.

By running back in the Doubledogdare, “I think she’s definitely on a surface she likes,” Carroll said. And with two recent works over the Keeneland Polytrack, Inglorious is “training very well up here” since spending the winter in Florida, Carroll added. “We’re very hopeful she can get back to winning Friday,” she said.

Inglorious, owned by Donver Stable, will be ridden by Julien Leparoux for the first time when breaking from post 3.

Two doors down, Mystical Star (post 5, Jose Lezcano) also will be looking to end a modest losing streak of her own. Since validating an extraordinary effort in the Sheepshead Bay by winning the Grade 2 New York Handicap last June on the Belmont Park turf, Mystical Star has been denied victory in four tries. Trained by Christophe Clement, the now 5-year-old mare had a useful start to the year when finishing an even third behind Old Tune in the Grade 3 Hillsborough over the Tampa Bay Downs turf last month.

Fringe contenders among the rest include a pair of uncoupled Ken Ramsey homebreds: Artemus Kitten (post 1, Gary Stevens), a hard-knocking 5-year-old entered off a victory in a minor stakes in Texas, and Sisterhood (post 6, Joel Rosario), supplemented into the race for a $5,000 fee.

Minakshi (post 8, Joe Rocco Jr.) is another supplementary entry. The French-bred mare will be making her North American debut since coming into the care of trainer Michael Matz after a 13-race career in her homeland.

Rounding out the lineup are Ice Cream Silence, Alaura Michele, and Lotta Lovin.

This is the 19th running of the Doubledogdare, which is named for the standout Claiborne Farm filly who won three major Keeneland stakes from 1955-56. The race goes as the ninth of 10, with first post at 1:05 p.m. Eastern and the feature going at 5:13.