Missy P., Triple Tap impressive in debuts

Last Friday, the 3-year-old filly Missy P. won her debut by 9 1/2 lengths at 2-5 in a maiden special weight race at 5 1/2 furlongs.

The following day, Triple Tap, a 3-year-old half-brother to 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, won his first start in a maiden special weight race at seven furlongs.

The pair may be too far behind their age-group contemporaries to be part of the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on April 30 and May 1, but they performed in a manner that suggests they are not far from stake appearances.

Missy P. had a solid span of workouts in the month leading to Friday’s race, in which she drew away through the stretch and earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.

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“She trained very impressively,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “It’s nice to see one run away from a field like that on the end.”

Missy P., by Into Mischief, races for owner and breeder B. Wayne Hughes’s Spendthrift Farm. Missy P. is a full sister to the six-time stakes winner Mia Mischief, who earned $1,274,934 in a four-year career from 2017 until last July.

Mandella said the $75,000 Angels Flight Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs on May 1 could be Missy P.’s stakes debut.

Mandella has not had the same fortune with another promising unraced prospect in Q B One, a 3-year-old colt by Uncle Mo who is out of the champion Beholder. Q B One was recently sidelined with a sore ankle and has been turned out for a rest at a local farm, Mandella said.

Triple Tap, trained by Bob Baffert for owner and breeder Jane Lyon, stalked the pace and pulled clear to win a seven-furlong maiden special weight race by 4 1/4 lengths at 1-5. He earned a 90 Beyer and could easily be in stakes this spring.

Baffert has a deep team of 3-year-old males, led by Kentucky Derby future-book favorite Life Is Good, and had no immediate plans for Triple Tap on Sunday. Triple Tap is not expected to have his second start in a sprint.

“He won nice and it looks like he can go two turns easily,” Baffert said in the winner’s circle on Saturday.