Lush Lips has chased home Nitrogen, the leader of the 3-year-old turf filly division, in her two most recent starts. Keeping that company makes Lush Lips a standout in the Grade 3, $275,000 Regret Stakes for the division Saturday at Churchill Downs. Lush Lips, owned by Medallion Racing, Steve Weston, Stewart Hoffman, and Coolmore partners, won her first two starts for trainer Brendan Walsh in maiden and allowance company after moving from trainer Donnacha O’Brien. She then finished second by a half-length to Nitrogen after leading in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks on March 8 at Tampa. In her next outing, the Grade 2 Edgewood on the Kentucky Oaks undercard, Lush Lips found herself farther back early and was rank between horses in the run into the first turn. She settled on the backstretch and reeled in all but Nitrogen when the field quickened in the lane, beaten 3 1/2 lengths. Both those efforts were at 1 1/16 miles, and Walsh admitted he is a “bit concerned” about stretching out to the 1 1/8 miles of the Regret, although Lush Lips’s most recent finish was strong. “She got the mile and a sixteenth pretty good the last day at Churchill,” Walsh said. “She hit the wire well and she was finishing up good.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Walsh’s other entrant, Hereforagoodtime, should relish the added ground as she steps up in class. “If I could put the two of them together, we’d be in great shape,” Walsh joked. Hereforagoodtime, owned by Flying Dutchmen, is making her stakes debut. The filly won a maiden race in her sixth career start, going 1 1/8 miles in an off-the-turf affair at Keeneland. She then won an allowance at 1 1/16 miles last out on the Churchill turf. “Physically, she was always a filly that was going to get a little better with time,” Walsh said. “This race was there, and it’s at home, and I think the nine furlongs will fit her.” Some others in this field of 11 also have tangled with Nitrogen through the winter and spring. Deloraine intrigues as she moves back to turf after finishing third in the Florida Oaks behind Nitrogen and Lush Lips, and then third in the Grade 3 Gazelle on dirt. Fionn won three straight races at 1 1/16 miles on turf, then was third in the Grade 2 Appalachian at Keeneland behind Nitrogen. Totally Justified, a stakes winner in New York last year, was fifth in the Appalachian, while Aterradora closed for fourth in the Edgewood after breaking a step slow. Despite the presence of these stakes-seasoned fillies, the narrow morning-line favorite over Lush Lips is Classic Q, trained by Mark Casse, who also conditions Nitrogen. After finishing fourth in a pair of stakes in March at Gulfstream, Classic Q showed her affinity for the Churchill turf with a sharp allowance win last out – but that was going a mile. Walsh, Casse duel in Audubon Earlier on the Saturday card, Walsh and Casse also both have entrants in the brother race to the Regret, the $275,000 Audubon Stakes for 3-year-olds, also going 1 1/8 miles on turf. Walsh sends out King of Ashes, who figures to relish the distance. In his first turf start in a 1 3/16-mile Keeneland allowance on April 23, the colt was attended early while setting a moderate pace, shook clear by two lengths in the stretch, and wound up second by three-quarters of a length to Early Adopter. Grade 2-placed in New York last year, Early Adopter is the 3-1 morning-line Audubon favorite for Chad Brown. “He’s improving – he liked the grass at Keeneland,” Walsh said of King of Ashes. “The nine furlongs won’t be a problem to him. He needs to go as far as we can go with him.” King of Ashes rallied from seventh to win a maiden race two starts back before his front-running effort last out, showing versatility. If he tries to lead in the Audubon, he’ll certainly have company from Charlie’s to Blame, who lasted on the lead to win the Kitten’s Joy in February on the Gulfstream turf, going 1 1/16 miles. Charlie’s to Blame then tried the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby, going 1 1/8 miles on Turfway Park’s Tapeta, and led early before fading to ninth. The key question is if that effort was due to the surface change or the added distance. Tomasello, Casse’s entrant, was second by a neck to King of Ashes when that one won a maiden race on Gulfstream’s synthetic track. Tomasello has improved since moving to turf, with a second followed by two wins. His most recent outing was in allowance/optional-claiming company at Churchill Downs, where he won a stretch duel with another Audubon entrant in Discreet Dancer. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.