Marley’s Freedom might get Grade 1 test in Ballerina Stakes

CYPRESS, Calif. – The three-race winning streak Marley’s Freedom has amassed since mid-April has left owners Ron and Barbara Perry hoping they have a contender for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs in November.

Marley’s Freedom won her first stakes in the Grade 3 Desert Stormer by 7 1/4 lengths at six furlongs at Santa Anita on May 27 and took the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths over Skye Diamonds at 6 1/2 furlongs at Los Alamitos last Saturday.

To start in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint, the owners said they need to see more from Marley’s Freedom at a higher level of competition. They are considering the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at seven furlongs at Saratoga on Aug. 25 for Marley’s Freedom’s next start. The winner of the $500,000 Ballerina Stakes receives a fees-paid berth in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 3.

“If we think she’s a Grade 1 filly, we need to go to the Ballerina,” Barbara Perry said. “You can’t think about the Breeders’ Cup unless you think she’s a Grade 1 filly.”

Earlier this year, Marley’s Freedom was trained by Bob Hess Jr. With his stable, Marley’s Freedom was second to Selcourt in the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes at seven furlongs on March 24 and won an allowance race with a $62,500 claiming option on April 20 to start the current winning streak.

Marley’s Freedom was transferred to trainer Bob Baffert after that race. A 4-year-old, Marley’s Freedom has won 5 of 11 starts and earned $353,435. There are greater goals on the horizon.

“We had to see this,” Ron Perry said in the winner’s circle on Saturday.

“We wanted two in a row.”

Skye Diamonds won the 2017 Great Lady M. Stakes and was later fourth in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar. Last summer, Skye Diamonds won the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar. Trainer Bill Spawr said on Saturday he hopes to run Skye Diamonds in the same race on Aug 12.