One Last Empress looks ready for Mamie Eisenhower Stakes

Third time racing this year might be the right time for One Last Empress to win the first stakes race of her 4-year-old season.

One Last Empress won two Iowa-bred stakes last summer at Prairie Meadows, where she’s 4-3-0 from seven starts, and she appears to be the most likely winner of the $60,000 Mamie Eisenhower Stakes for older Iowa-bred fillies and mares on Friday night.

One Last Empress, trained by Ray Ashford for her breeder, Runaway Racing, was stretched to two turns for her last two starts of 2018 and didn’t especially enjoy it, and the six-furlong Mamie Eisenhower is a much better distance fit.

Ashford gave her a Will Rogers Downs comeback run April 3 and on May 10 at Prairie Meadows One Last Empress finished strongly to win a six-furlong Prairie allowance race with no conditions beyond an Iowa-bred restriction. Often on or near the lead in her earlier races, One Last Empress showed a new dimension settling near the back of the field and coming with a late run.

Among her six rivals is My Sister Madi, who won this race a year ago but has lost six starts since.