Matured Sunset Louise perfect for Johnstone Mile

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Unbeaten in three starts this year and nearly perfect at one mile, Sunset Louise has a lot in her favor as she attempts to win her first stakes in Wednesday’s $125,000 Johnstone Mile Handicap at Saratoga.

The Johnstone, restricted to New York-bred females, drew seven, but is likely to lose at least one runner as Betsy Blue was re-entered for Friday’s $125,000 Union Avenue Stakes.

Sunset Louise has a 4-1-0 record from five starts at the Johnstone’s distance of a mile. She has won twice here out of the Wilson chute, which just opened last year.

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Described by her trainer Bruce Levine as “wild” in her youth, Sunset Louise has calmed down to where she’s been able to show her true ability.

At 2, she unseated jockey Dylan Davis in the post parade and was scratched from what would have been her career debut at Belmont Park. Prior to her official first start, she unseated jockey Luis Saez at the gate, but was still permitted to run. She finished eighth of 12.

Last fall, after she finished last in the Empire Distaff, she was found to have a chip in a hind ankle that was surgically removed. So, while her two worst races have come in her only two starts without the anti-bleeding medication Lasix, there were other plausible excuses for those performances.

Sunset Louise used to train and race in blinkers. But following her ankle surgery and time on the farm, she came back to Levine a different horse. All three of her wins this year have come without blinkers.

“We turned her out, brought her back in, and she seemed like she matured so much,” Levine said. “We trained her without blinkers the whole time, and I said you know what, let’s run her without blinkers.”

Following a New York-bred allowance win in May, Sunset Louise won two straight open-company allowance races. On July 16, Sunset Louise had to beat just two rivals to win an open second-level allowance that was off the turf. Since she was a New York-bred facing open company, Sunset Louise ran for the winner’s share of $156,000. The $85,800 she earned that day is more than the $68,750 she would earn for winning the Johnstone.

With Jose Ortiz serving a suspension Wednesday through Friday, Luis Saez has picked up the mount on Sunset Louise, who breaks from post 2.

Timeless Journey returns from a brief freshening for Ray Handal. Timeless Journey was in good form at Aqueduct, winning 3 of 5 dirt starts including the Biogio’s Rose Stakes before two subpar efforts at Belmont in May.

“I don’t know if Belmont was her favorite surface, she definitely likes Aqueduct dirt,” Handal said. “A freshening never hurts. She’s carrying great weight. Hopefully, she likes Saratoga.”

Joel Rosario, expected to return to race-riding after sustaining minor injuries when thrown from Maple Leaf Mel in last Saturday’s Test, rides Timeless Journey.

Multiple stakes winner Venti Valentine is the 124-pound highweight in the Johnstone. Know It All Audrey, Bustin Bay, and Mia Bea Star complete the field.

The Johnstone, which goes as race 9 on the 10-race card, is named in honor of Bruce Johnstone, a longtime trainer and former New York Racing Association official who died in 2020.

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