Mundaye Call gets chance to step up in Miss Preakness

Mundaye Call has been based in Kentucky this summer and fall, but the best way to get her to the Breeders’ Cup, trainer Brad Cox believes, is to head to Maryland this weekend.

No, Cox doesn’t need a new navigation app. Cox says Mundaye Call deserves a chance at making the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 7 at Keeneland, and to give her the best opportunity, running Saturday at Pimlico in the Grade 3, $150,000 Miss Preakness Stakes is preferred to awaiting the Grade 2 Raven Run on Oct. 17 at Keeneland.

“We want to give her the opportunity that if she runs well we can go on to the Breeders’ Cup,” Cox said. “If we wait for the Raven Run, it’s too close.”

Mundaye Call won her first two starts this year like a filly capable of stepping into top-class company. She won an allowance race at Keeneland against older runners July 11 in her belated 2020 debut, then romped in the seven-furlong Audubon Oaks at Ellis Park on Aug. 9, earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 100.

:: Get DRF Betting Strategies for Pimlico’s Preakness Day card

She disappointed last time out, fading to fourth in a field of five in the Grade 2 Eight Belles at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard, but the race did not unfold in her favor. She started from the rail in the seven-furlong race, had to be used from there, and got cooked, with a 44.14-second half-mile. The opening quarter was 22.11, the second quarter 22.03.

“She went extremely fast. The second quarter was faster than the first,” Cox said.

She’s cutting back to six furlongs, facing softer company, and should be able to sit a better trip. Mundaye Call landed post 5 in the field of seven, giving jockey Florent Geroux a chance to stalk, similar to tactics employed in the Audubon Oaks.

“No doubt this is a better draw,” Cox said. “We have to get her back to that performance.”

Mundaye Call should be strongly favored against six rivals, none of whom have reached a 90 Beyer in 56 starts, combined.

“We’ll find out if we should go on, or look toward 2021,” Cox said.

Fly On Angel, Wicked Whisper, and Princess Cadey – the top three finishers in the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks on Aug. 28 – are among Mundaye Call’s rivals. Princess Cadey ran back nine days later in the Weber City Miss at Laurel going 1 1/16 miles and finished sixth of nine.

:: Preakness 2020: Contenders, news, past performances, and more

Claudio Gonzalez, who trains Fly On Angel and Princess Cadey, also sends out Ankle Monitor, who was fourth in both the Charles Town Oaks and Weber City Miss.

Ain’t No Elmers beat older runners in a second-level allowance sprint on Sept. 2 at Churchill Downs, earning a career-best Beyer Figure of 86, but she has the rail and will have Mundaye Call shadowing her throughout.

Sound Machine gets class relief after finishing fifth of eight in the Grade 2 Prioress on Sept. 5 at Saratoga, her first start in more than six months.