Mischiefful flattered by Inject's stakes win

Three $102,000 allowance races and a pair of $100,000 maiden special weight events for juvenile fillies highlight Twilight Thursday at Churchill Downs, with an eight-race card kicking off at 5 p.m.

Trainer Ian Wilkes holds a solid hand in the evening’s seventh race, an allowance for 3-year-old fillies who have never won two races. Mischiefful, second on debut, broke her maiden going this six-furlong distance at Gulfstream Park. She then gave a good account of herself when finishing a hard-fought second by a neck to Inject in a Keeneland allowance. The winner came back to score a 5 1/4-length victory in the Goldfinch Stakes on Saturday at Prairie Meadows, flattering Mischiefful, who has been made an 8-5 shot on Thursday’s morning line under regular rider Corey Lanerie.

Wilkes will also saddle the 8-1 shot Fabricate, with Julien Leparoux in the irons. The filly was a debut winner sprinting last June at Churchill Downs before finishing third in the Debutante at Ellis Park. Since then, she has been unplaced in three outings while testing deeper graded stakes company, stretching out, and trying the turf. She gets class relief in this dirt sprint.

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R Working Girl, a debut winner last December at Aqueduct for Wesley Ward, was third behind Inject and Mischiefful at Keeneland. She is 5-2 on the morning line with Tyler Gaffalione named to ride.

Ward, who is known for his prowess with juveniles, will also saddle the favorite in the evening’s third race, a maiden. Bali Dove, a Stonestreet Farm colorbearer under Leparoux, is the first starter for Churchill, one of the season’s most anticipated freshman sires internationally. The son of Galileo was a Group 1 winner as a juvenile and went on to win both the English and Irish 2000 Guineas.

◗ In addition to champion juvenile Essential Quality, several other runners emerging from the Kentucky Derby returned to the worktab over the weekend at Churchill Downs. Essential Quality, who was fourth in the Derby and is being considered for the Belmont Stakes, worked a half-mile in 50.80 seconds on Saturday morning beneath the twin spires. His Brad Cox-trained stablemate Mandaloun, who crossed the line second to Medina Spirit in the Derby, turned in a separate half-mile work in 48.20 on Saturday.

Graded stakes winners Helium and Like the King, eighth and 12th, respectively, in the Derby, were also in action. Helium worked a half in 48.80 on Saturday. He is nominated to the Grade 3, $150,000 Matt Winn Stakes, one of seven stakes scheduled for May 29 at Churchill.

During Sunday morning’s turf training period, Like the King worked five furlongs in 1:02.40. He is being considered for the $150,000 Audubon on May 29.

Also returning to the worktab post-Derby was fifth-place O Besos, who breezed in 49.20 on Saturday.

◗ Churchill Downs will host a night program this coming Saturday, with the features the Grade 3, $150,000 Winning Colors Stakes and the $110,000 Keertana overnight stakes. Multiple graded stakes winner Frank’s Rockette and local Grade 2 winner Sconsin are likely for the Winning Colors along with Mundaye Call and Palace Avenger, according to Churchill Downs assistant racing secretary and stakes coordinator Dan Bork.

◗ Arklow earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 96 for his victory in last Saturday’s Grade 3 Louisville Stakes. Arklow is now a graded stakes winner in five consecutive seasons.