Miss Behaviour ready to go in Prioress Stakes
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Phil Schoenthal may have gotten a bit of a bonus when his Miss Behaviour finished second in the Grade 1 Test Stakes earlier in the meet. After all, it was Saturday’s $300,000 Prioress that the Maryland-based horseman really had been targeting all along with Miss Behaviour, who will take on seven foes in the six-furlong, Grade 2 dash for 3-year-old fillies.
Miss Behaviour stalked the pace after breaking from the extreme outside and continued gamely through the stretch, only to be outfinished by the multiple Grade 1 winner Sweet Reason when trying seven furlongs for the first time in the Test. Miss Behaviour never has lost at six furlongs, winning each of her three starts at the distance, including the Grade 2 Matron at Belmont Park during the fall of her 2-year-old campaign.
“She came out of the Test awesome, maybe even better than she went in, which I’m kind of thrilled about because it looked like it could have been a gut-wrenching effort,” Schoenthal said. “The Prioress has always been our main target since we know six furlongs is more in her wheelhouse than seven-eighths, although to be honest, this came up a lot deeper field than I was expecting.”
Southern Honey, Sweet Whiskey, and Tea Time also exit the Test.
Southern Honey finished ninth after contesting the pace into the stretch in the Test while making her first start since defeating older horses in Churchill Downs’s Grade 3 Winning Colors nearly 10 weeks earlier.
Sweet Whiskey finished fifth in the Test after prompting the pace and joining the leaders near midstretch, making her first appearance since finishing second behind Sweet Reason in the Grade 1 Acorn.
Tea Time finished seventh after encountering trouble at the break and being forced to race wide turning for home in the Test. The loss snapped a two-race win streak with both victories coming in stakes.
Key contenders
Miss Behaviour (Last 3 Beyers: 91-88-91)
* He consistent filly has been at her best when on or near the lead at six furlongs.
“I’ll leave the riding up to the jockey and the training up to me, but I do like not being the widest horse on the racetrack, so I hope she can tuck in or be on the pace,” Schoenthal said.
* She picks up six pounds coming out of the Test, goes postward the starting highweight.
Sweet Whiskey (Last 3 Beyers: 90-92-79)
* She posted a win and a second in her only two previous starts at six furlongs, including a victory in the Grade 3 Old Hat.
* Filly was an easy winner of her debut over this track.
Southern Honey (Last 3 Beyers: 74-99-86)
* Owns far and away the best Beyer Speed Figure in the field, the 99 she recorded defeating older horses in the Winning Colors.
* Her only loss at six furlongs came after she broke slowly from the rail and raced rankly during the early stages of her 3-year-old debut at Gulfstream Park.