Moonshine Memories starting season in Angels Flight

ARCADIA, Calif. – The sprint campaign planned for Moonshine Memories in 2018 will look different from her outstanding 2017, aside from the element of surprise.

Moonshine Memories was an unexpected late supplement to the $75,000 Angels Flight Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies to which she was not initially nominated.

“We wanted to make sure everything was right,” trainer Simon Callaghan said. “And at the moment, it seems right.”

It is not the first time Moonshine Memories popped up without warning. She did it last summer as a 2-year-old. In a span of just six weeks, she went from unraced maiden to two-time Grade 1 winner, including a victory at 1 1/16 miles around two turns.

Even then, Callaghan suspected Moonshine Memories would be best as a sprinter. “Potentially, she’s more of a seven-furlong type,” he said.

The main objectives this year for Moonshine Memories are one-turn races including the Grade 1, one-mile Acorn on June 9 at Belmont, and the Grade 1, seven-furlong Test on Aug. 4 at Saratoga.

Ten entered the Angels Flight. Contenders include Grade 1-placed Thirteen Squared, shortening up and dropping in; Grade 3-placed Uppercut, making just her third start; Show It N Moe It, a Cal-bred stakes winner; and upset candidate Film Actress, a route stakes winner at Turf Paradise whose closing style suits the speed-filled Angels Flight.

Other entrants are First Dudette, Emboldened, Surrender Now, Highland Lass, and True Royalty.

KEY CONTENDERS

Moonshine Memories, by Malibu Moon
Last 3 Beyers: 72-86-82

◗ A 2017 Eclipse Award finalist after winning the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante and Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes, Moonshine Memories is owned by Bridlewood Farm, Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor.

◗ She won her first three starts before the final start of her campaign, a seventh-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Thirteen Squared, by Liaison
Last 3 Beyers: 79-90-73

◗ Arnold Zetcher bred and owns the filly, Bob Baffert is her trainer.

◗ After three successive routes in which she lost ground in the stretch, Thirteen Squared benefits from the shorter distance.

Uppercut, by Discreet Cat
Beyers: 75-81

◗ Peter Eurton trains the filly, who won her debut by more than five lengths at Santa Anita before finishing third in a Grade 3 at Keeneland.

Film Actress, by Eskendereya
Last 3 Beyers: 73-58-55

◗ Upset winner of a grass route stakes at Turf Paradise, her off-the-pace styles makes her a tempting longshot given all the speed in this field.