Moonlit Song gets stamina test in My Sister Pearl

There is little question who the best horse is in the $50,000 My Sister Pearl at Charles Town on Saturday night. Five-time stakes winner Moonlit Song is 13 for 22 with earnings of $368,000 for owner, trainer, and breeder Timothy Grams.

But it also is clear why nine rivals were entered to take her on in the My Sister Pearl, a 1 1/8-mile race for West Virginia-bred fillies and mares. In three seasons of competition, Moonlit Song has never raced beyond seven furlongs.

A 4-year-old daughter of top West Virginia sire Fiber Sonde, Moonlit Song made seven of her first eight starts at 4 1/2 furlongs. She successfully stretched out around two turns in 6 1/2- and seven-furlong races last year and now, nine starts into this campaign, will try to navigate another quarter-mile and a third bend.

She should be up to it, but Moonlit Song has not been as dominant at 4 as she was at 3, when she went 8 for 11. This year, she has won four times while finishing second in five races. If she succeeds Saturday, it will be her first stakes win of the year.

Last time out, Moonlit Song ran a bang-up race, battling through the final quarter-mile with graded stakes winner Late Night Pow Wow in the seven-furlong West Virginia Cavada Breeders Classic. Late Night Pow Wow beat her by a half-length following a thrilling stretch run.

The Saturday game plan should be simple. Expect Moonlit Song to go to the lead from post 10 and try to get into a nice rhythm under Oscar Flores.

There is other speed entered, however. T Rex Express, the likely second betting choice for trainer Jeff Runco, has speed and may not yield the top spot easily. She comes into the race off a front-running 2 1/2-length victory in the 1 1/8-mile West Virginia Breeders Classic Distaff. T Rex Express won the My Sister Pearl a year ago.

Longshot Jackie’s Notion also has early speed if jockey Darius Thorpe chooses to use it.

If the pace gets too hot for Moonlit Song and T Rex Express, the beneficiary could be the late-running Scottish Denis, who finished second, 2 1/2 lengths behind T Rex Express, in the Breeders Classic Distaff.

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