Miss Sunset at one of favorite venues for TCA Stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Miss Sunset got a head start on her California colleagues. While Marley’s Freedom and a couple of other major contenders for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint stayed home at Santa Anita to simply train toward the Nov. 3 race at Churchill Downs, Miss Sunset was flown this week to Keeneland to race in the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes.

It’s not a bad idea at all, considering how well Miss Sunset has performed in her two prior races here: She won the Grade 2 Raven Run last fall, and she was beaten just a nose by Finley’sluckycharm in the Grade 1 Madison last spring. That horse-for-course angle is a primary reason Miss Sunset will be favored Saturday when she faces nine other fillies and mares in a terrific 38th running of the Grade 2, $250,000 TCA at six furlongs.

With Mike Smith riding from post 3, Miss Sunset will be making her seventh start of the year – but just her second since May – and is looking to add to her 10-for-18 career record and shooting for the Win and You’re In berth in the Filly and Mare Sprint that’s part of the TCA’s allure. The 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief had a useful tightener in winning the restricted CERF Stakes on Sept. 3 at Del Mar in her most recent outing.

“We wanted to space her races out and have a fresh horse for the fall,” said trainer Jeff Bonde. “She and Mike are a lot alike – they both like to win.”

Miss Sunset will have to run another big one to turn back a host of challengers, including Chalon (post 9, Javier Castellano), whom she defeated by a half-length in the Raven Run last October.

Trained by Arnaud Delacour since being purchased at auction last fall for $550,000 by the Lael Stables of Barbaro fame, Chalon has gone unraced since easily winning the Regret at Monmouth Park in mid-June. In the meantime, the 4-year-old Dialed In filly has posted a series of bullet drills at the Fair Hill Training Center in northern Maryland.

“She got cast in her stall before Saratoga started and hurt her hock a little,” said Delacour. “It was nothing major, but it made us miss the meet with her. We got her ready for the fall, and I have been very happy with her. Six furlongs is a perfect distance for her, but it is a tough field. We will give it a shot.”

Other major TCA threats include Vertical Oak (post 4, Ricardo Santana Jr.), a multiple stakes winner exiting a victory in the Open Mind three weeks ago at Churchill; Golden Mischief (post 7, Florent Geroux), the only starter with a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure on her record; and Curlin’s Approval (post 8, Tyler Gaffalione), a Florida shipper who has rounded back to form for Happy Alter.

Fringe players in a deep lineup include Happy Like a Fool (post 6, John Velazquez), the only 3-year-old in the field, and Awestruck (post 5, Brian Hernandez Jr.), making an interesting turnback from longer races for trainer Rusty Arnold.

Happy Like a Fool was a 6 1/2-length winner of the Miss Preakness at Pimlico before trainer Wesley Ward backed off on her, breezing her only sporadically through the summer before retightening the screws starting in late August.

“We’ve got her fit and really sharp again,” said Ward, who won the 2013 TCA with Judy the Beauty. “She’s a filly with a whole lot of class.”

Rounding out the TCA lineup are Rich Mommy, Torrent, and Crazy Sweet.

The TCA is the penultimate prep for the seven-furlong Filly and Mare Sprint, preceding the L.A. Woman at Santa Anita on Sunday. Three California fillies – Marley’s Freedom, Dream Tree, and Selcourt – are arguably the top three favorites for the Filly and Mare Sprint, and all took a pass on a final prep in lieu of steady training. Another top contender, Finley’sluckycharm, the 2017 TCA winner over Miss Sunset, also is being trained into the Filly and Mare Sprint by Bret Calhoun at Churchill.

The TCA, named for the exclusive club located on the southwest corner of Keeneland property along Versailles Road, was first run as a stakes event in 1981, when Gold Treasure prevailed under Mark Sellers. It goes as race 7 and leads off a pick-four wager with a $350,000 pool guarantee.