Miss Sky Warrior stands out in Gazelle Stakes

Six of the nine 3-year-old fillies in the $300,000 Gazelle at Aqueduct on Saturday won their most recent starts, and three enter off stakes wins. But when it comes to graded-stakes success, Miss Sky Warrior stands alone.

A daughter of First Samurai trained by Kelly Breen, Miss Sky Warrior has won three graded stakes in a row. The only other member of the lineup to have started in a graded stakes is Aspen Hilltop, who was eased at 19-1 in the Grade 2 Davona Dale at Gulfstream Park after stumbling over a fallen horse early in the one-mile race.

Miss Sky Warrior turned in a sharp effort to win the 14-horse Davona Dale as the 2-1 favorite in her lone start of the season. She completed her 2-year-old campaign by winning the Grade 2 Demoiselle at 1 1/8 miles over the Aqueduct main track in November – the same conditions as Saturday’s race.

Prior to the Demoiselle, Miss Sky Warrior won the Grade 3 Tempted at a mile at Aqueduct and a Parx Racing maiden race. Her only loss came in her career debut.

“She’s always been a big, strong athlete,” Breen said. “We’re bringing her back to a track she likes.”

Both Breen and Edward Barker, who trains Yorkiepoo Princess, a winner of three straight stakes, said they would like to move on to the Kentucky Oaks. The Grade 2 Gazelle offers 170 qualifying points (100-40-20-10) for the Oaks, which is limited to 14 horses. Miss Sky Warrior already has 60 points. Yorkiepoo Princess has 50.

The Gazelle is slotted as race 11 and immediately follows the Wood Memorial. It is the penultimate leg of a pick three, pick four, pick five, and pick six.

Miss Sky Warrior rated on a loose rein off a solid pace in the Davona Dale before taking the lead in upper stretch. She then held a pair of rivals safe through the final furlong to win by a half-length under regular rider Paco Lopez.

“I thought it was a very good race for her,” Breen said. “She tracked a heated pace and then went on with it.”

Her rivals include Busher winner Yorkiepoo Princess; Busanda winner Lockdown, who races for Bill Mott; the New York-bred maiden winner North End, conditioned by Chad Brown; and the Todd Pletcher-trained maiden winner Stay Fond.

Gazelle, race 11

Key contenders

Miss Sky Warrior, by First Samurai
Last 3 Beyers: 80-80-78

◗ Miss Sky Warrior has won each of her three stakes by three-quarters of a length or less. Her only dominating performance came in her seven-length maiden victory.

“She just seems to do what she has to in order to win,” Breen said. “As long as she’s in front at the wire, it doesn’t make a difference to me whether she wins by three-quarters or 13 lengths.”

Yorkiepoo Princess, by Kantharos
Last 3 Beyers: 73-75-85

◗ Barker has a lot of confidence in the $8,000 2-year-old buy, whom he has trained to relax off the pace.

“There looks like there is some speed in there, and my filly doesn’t have to be on the front end,” he said. “She rated beautifully in the Busher.”

◗ Irad Ortiz Jr., who has been aboard for all four of her victories, including the six-furlong Furlough, six-furlong Ruthless, and 1 1/16-mile Busher, keeps the mount.

Lockdown, by First Defence
Last 3 Beyers: 75-70-62

◗ She shipped to Payson Park soon after winning the Busanda at one mile and 70 yards in January. Mott said he preferred the 1 1/8 miles of the Gazelle over the 1 1/16 miles of the Gulfstream Oaks.

“She came down to Florida late, and it took her a while to sort of acclimate,” Mott said. “So, we went through all the normal stuff with her, and she started to work quite well.”

North End, by Into Mischief
Beyers: 80-64

◗ Having made only two starts, this is a big jump in class, but the 80 Beyer Speed Figure she earned in her maiden win fits with this group as she stretches out from a mile to nine furlongs.

– additional reporting by David Grening