Louve Royale latest for Biancone

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Twice a year, Keeneland gives stakes-caliber fillies and mares a chance to shine at the infrequently run distance of 1 1/2 miles on turf. Patrick Biancone and Gary Stevens won the spring version, the Bewitch Stakes, with a Breeders' Cup-bound filly named Angara, and now they're back in the fall to try to win the Rood and Riddle Dowager with Louve Royale.

, like so many horses in Biancone's stable, is a European import with a preference for grass. She went 1 for 7 overseas before being sent to Biancone, for whom the Irish-bred filly has shown a strong and consistent closing kick that figures to serve her well Sunday when she faces eight others in the $150,000 Dowager.

Louve Royale was among the two dozen or so horses that Biancone had shipped into Turfway Park earlier this month, and this will be the first time the filly has raced in the Midwest. Her two races back East certainly were encouraging: She was third in a Delaware Park allowance, then second in back-to-back restricted stakes at Delaware and Belmont Park.

The opposition she will face Sunday looks a little stronger than what she previously met, but further improvement should make her a solid threat nonetheless. Among her more capable challengers are , a late-striding Dynaformer mare who ships in from Southern California for Ron Ellis; and the first three finishers from the Claire Marine last month at Arlington Park: Strike Me Lucky, Beau Happy, and Cape Town Lass.

The rest of the field is Sheer Luck, Baxter Hall, and October Glory.

The price play might be Jordyn Macoma, a 6-year-old who hasn't been able to clear her second allowance condition but is finally getting the extra distance she seems to have been begging for. Mike Smith has accepted the call for Ellis and owner Alex Campbell Jr.

This will be the 14th running of the Dowager, which occupies the usual eighth-race feature slot on a nine-race Sunday program that also includes two allowances (races 3 and 7). First post is 1:15 p.m. Eastern.

After two dark days following the Sunday card, Keeneland will close its meet with a four-day week that culminates Saturday with an abbreviated live program and simulcasts of the Breeders' Cup championships from Belmont.