Little separates main players in Top Flight

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Very little separates My Miss Lilly and Forever Liesl, the two main protagonists in Saturday’s $200,000 Top Flight Invitational at Aqueduct.

Both earned their best Beyer Speed Figure winning a stakes over the track at the Top Flight distance of 1 1/8-miles. Both are coming off third-place finishes in one-turn mile races. Both prefer to have a little pace in front of them.

The difference may come down to track condition. While both have won over a wet track, Forever Liesl has repeatedly shown she moves up in the slop. A dry track might favor My Miss Lilly.

Rain is in the forecast Friday night into Saturday morning, but Saturday afternoon is expected to be dry.

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My Miss Lilly, a 4-year-old daughter of Tapit trained by Mark Hennig, won the Gazelle here last April, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 92. She didn’t have a very good trip and may have been overmatched when she finished 11th behind Monomoy Girl in the Kentucky Oaks.

Following a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Mother Goose, My Miss Lilly was training toward a start in the Grade 1 Alabama last August at Saratoga when she was diagnosed with an ankle chip that needed to be surgically removed.

In her first start at 4, My Miss Lilly finished third to Pink Sands in a one-turn mile allowance at Gulfstream Park.

“It was a good effort,” Hennig said. “She was running against a nice filly who had more recency. She probably needed the race. We should improve as we stretch out to two turns.”

Joe Bravo, aboard for the Gazelle win, will ride My Miss Lilly from post 5.

Forever Liesl, a 5-year-old daughter of Mineshaft trained by Michelle Nevin, earned a career-best 96 Beyer winning the Ladies Handicap here in January in the slop. She finished third in the Heavenly Prize, a one-turn mile race on March 10.

“She really ran a great race in the Ladies because she was so wide all the way around,” Nevin said. “She ran farther than anybody else. She looked very confident, and when he asked her to run she responded.”

The “he” is jockey Eric Cancel, who will ride Forever Liesl from post 6.

There should be ample pace in the race with Jump Ruler and Frostie Anne in the field. Jump Ruler is making her first start after being claimed for $62,500 by Rob Atras. Frostie Anne won the Biogio’s Rose and a starter allowance for trainer Rudy Rodriguez in her last two starts and is 15 for 37 overall.

Last year, at 3, Midnight Disguise won the Busanda at 1 1/8 miles before finishing fourth in the Gazelle. She is 0 for 2 this year.

Another Broad, fourth in the Grade 3 Royal Delta at Gulfstream, stretches out to 1 1/8 miles for trainer Todd Pletcher with Manny Franco up.