Marissa's Lady continues to show fondness for Tapeta with Satin and Lace win

Marissa's Lady continued to show her affinity for synthetic tracks, edging clear to a three-quarter-length win over game pacesetter Cancel This in the $80,000 Satin and Lace Stakes for fillies and mares on Monday evening at Presque Isle Downs.

The Satin and Lace, at six furlongs on the Pennsylvania track's Tapeta, was the local prep for the track's signature race, the Grade 2, $300,000 Presque Isle Masters on Sept. 18. The Masters has served as a prep for some into the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, to be contested this year on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

"She loves the synthetic track – that's why we brought her up here," trainer Billy Morey said. "We're hoping to make the Masters next – that's our goal."

Marissa's Lady ($4.40), sent away favored in the field of eight starters, broke on top in the Satin and Lace. Pablo Morales coaxed her back to sit in second as Cancel This raced up on the inside of them after the early lead. Cancel This ticked off a swift opening quarter of 22.03 seconds, with Marissa's Lady rating kindly.

"She was just perfect," Morales said. "She breaks out of the gate so hard, and you take it from there."

Around the far turn, Morales put his hands down to let Marissa's Lady run on, and the filly began to reel in Cancel This, just a head back at the half-mile marker in 44.71. Morales set his mount down in earnest once straightened away, and she wore down a game Cancel This and edged away in the final yards to her final margin.

Marissa's Lady stopped the clock in 1:08.98.

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Napa Candy split trailing horses in the stretch and ran on well to be third, just a neck behind Cancel This.

Marissa's Lady, who races as a homebred for Richard and Pamela Tillema and the Ron Boone Family Trust, has now won 7 of 11 career starts and pushed her earnings to $500,566. Although the filly won the 2021 Fern Creek Stakes on the dirt at Churchill Downs as a juvenile, she emerged as a force that following winter and spring at Turfway Park, winning the Gowell, Valdale, and Serena's Song stakes and finishing second in the Cincinnati Trophy.

Marissa's Lady then had a handful of unplaced efforts on dirt and turf over the following year, including a fifth behind champion Echo Zulu in a tough season debut in the Grade 3 Winning Colors on May 29. She got back on a synthetic track, and back in the winner's circle, in an allowance/optional-claiming race on July 5 at Presque Isle, setting her up for her fifth career stakes victory.

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