Miss Sky Warrior seeks triumphant return in Comely

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Miss Sky Warrior has come home for the holidays.

Unbeaten at Aqueduct – with all three wins coming in graded stakes – Miss Sky Warrior returns to the Big A to headline Friday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Comely Stakes, the final graded stakes of the year restricted to 3-year-old fillies on this circuit.

At Aqueduct last year, Miss Sky Warrior won the Grade 3 Tempted and Grade 2 Demoiselle. In April, Miss Sky Warrior cruised to a 13-length victory in the Grade 2 Gazelle here. The Demoiselle and Gazelle were both at 1 1/8 miles around two turns, as is the Comely.

Miss Sky Warrior finished eighth in the Kentucky Oaks in May before getting a break. She came back in the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm Oct. 28 at Belmont Park facing older fillies and mares, and finished fourth after setting the early pace. Trainer Kelly Breen said that in addition to probably needing the race, the fact Miss Sky Warrior ran a second quarter in 22.72 seconds didn’t help.

“That second quarter might have cooked her a little bit, but I do believe that she needed the race,” Breen said. “If I had to put a number on her, she was probably about 80 percent fit. Could she have won at 80 percent fit? Possibly, if she didn’t go so fast early maybe she could have finished better.”

Miss Sky Warrior will break from post 8 in the nine-horse field under Javier Castellano. She figures to be on or close to the pace, perhaps stalking Run and Go, a sprinter stretching out and breaking from the rail.

“I’d love to see her have a target,” Breen said.

Actress is the only other graded stakes winner in the field, having taken the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan as a maiden at Pimlico in May. After finishing third to It Tiz Well in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks, Actress finished fourth behind Elate in the Grade 1 Alabama and sixth behind It Tiz Well in the Cotillion at Parx.

Analyze, a two-time listed stakes winner trained by Michael Matz, and Bonita Bianca, a three-time New York-bred stakes winner trained by Rudy Rodriguez, are among the other contenders in the field.

KEY CONTENDERS

Miss Sky Warrior, by First Samurai
Last 3 Beyers: 81-76-94

◗ Returns to Aqueduct, where she is 3 for 3, looking to end a two-race losing streak.

◗ Back with 3-year-old fillies after running fourth behind older mares Eskenformoney and Verve’s Tale in the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm at Belmont.

Actress, by Tapit
Last 3 Beyers: 87-86-89

◗ Gets some class relief after chasing the likes of It Tiz Well and Elate in Grade 1 stakes in her last two starts.

◗ Trainer Jason Servis is equipping Actress with blinkers for the first time on Friday.

“I’ve been wanting to put them on her, saving them as the ace in the hole,” Servis said. “I think it’s overdue. If you watch her last couple of races, she’s looking around at the grandstand.”