Marquee Miss will try dirt, two turns in Alcibiades

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Neither of the two decisions that trainer Ingrid Mason made with a pair of stakes runners last weekend was obvious, but in retrospect, both were good. The 3-year-old filly Sarah Sis was shipped to Saratoga for the Ballerina Stakes and finished a creditable fourth, just missing a valuable Grade 1 placing. Meanwhile, back home at Arlington, Mason sent out the 2-year-old filly Marquee Miss to make her career debut in the $75,000 Arlington-Washington Lassie, and she won it by three lengths.

Marquee Miss earned just a 57 Beyer Speed Figure in winning what looked like a soft edition of the Lassie, run at seven furlongs on Polytrack, but she won going away. Mason thinks the filly has plenty more to give, and her near-term goal is the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes around two turns on dirt next month at Keeneland.

A $20,000 2-year-old auction purchase by Cowboy Cal, Marquee Miss wasn’t the fastest of Mason’s 2-year-olds working from the gate, but once she got going, she looked like the best of them.

“I think she’s a freak,” Mason said. “I didn’t want to run her first time out for a low purse, so I had two choices: Ship out of town or run her in the Lassie. She’d showed me she has ability, and I knew she was a distance horse.”

Mason said Marquee Miss, for all she did right in winning Saturday, still raced greenly.

“She’ll have to step it up at Keeneland, but I think she can,” Mason said. “She has a lot of talent, she’s a really big filly, and she wants to do things right.”

Sarah Sis was making her first start in two months, her first against older horses, and her first around one turn in seven starts in the Ballerina, where she set the pace from post 1 and held decently to be beaten five lengths by the victorious Unbridled Forever.

“I thought she held her own. Maybe next year she’ll be ready to take those fillies on,” said Mason, who plans to send Sarah Sis to the $100,000 Pink Ribbon Stakes, a two-turn, seven-furlong race Sept. 19 at Charles Town.

No Fault of Mine about ready

The talented filly No Fault of Mine is closing in on her delayed 3-year-old debut, but trainer Chris Block has no idea where and when it will come.

No Fault of Mine, by Blame, easily won her career debut here last September, then finished a good second in the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs. She was being prepared for a spring return to racing when she was injured, setting back her first start at 3, but No Fault of Mine now has logged six timed workouts since joining Block’s barn at Arlington.

“I’ll put a couple more works in her and then look for an allowance race somewhere,” Block said.

Block’s first choice would be to bring back No Fault of Mine on Polytrack at Arlington, but he doubts he’ll get a race for her here before the meet closes at the end of September.

“I guess I’d put her on dirt, but I’d consider turf, too,” Block said. “I haven’t really even thought about where I’ll run her. I’m just focused on getting her ready. She’s doing good.”

Block does have a spot picked out for Nun the Less, who came from last to win the $200,000 Mystic Lake Derby last Saturday at Canterbury Park.

“He’ll go to the Jefferson Cup at Churchill next,” Block said.