Paulassilverlining, By the Moon skipping Gallant Bloom

Add Paulassilverlining and By the Moon to the list of horses that will train up to the Breeders’ Cup.
Neither one was entered Thursday for Sunday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap, a stepping-stone to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 4.
Trainer Chad Brown said he felt Paulassilverlining’s fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Ballerina last month may have been a result of having too hard a race when she won the Grade 2 Honorable Miss a month earlier.
“I’m fearful of her running too hard in her prep,” Brown said. “She’s run really well fresh for us, so we’re just going to train up to the Breeders’ Cup.”
Michelle Nevin trains Ballerina winner By the Moon, and she said the Gallant Bloom “was tempting because it’s a light field,” but ultimately she felt coming into the Breeders’ Cup fresh “might be better for her.”
:: Breeders' Cup PP packages: Get PPs, betting strategies, DRF+ Pro access, and more
Brown will still be represented in the Gallant Bloom by Carina Mia, who finished third in the Ballerina in what was just her second start of the year. Nevin entered Friend of Liberty, a horse she claimed for $32,000 last out.
Highway Star, beaten a head by By the Moon in the Ballerina, could be the horse to beat. She drew the rail. Lucy N Ethel, winner of last year’s Grade 2 Prioress at Saratoga, makes her 4-year-old debut and first start for trainer Todd Pletcher. She drew post 6.
Also entered were Quezon and Absatootly.
The Gallant Bloom, run at 6 1/2 furlongs, will go as race 5 on the nine-race card.
Also on Sunday’s program are two turf stakes: the $125,000 Ashley T. Cole for New York-bred 3-year-olds and up, and $125,000 John Hettinger for New York-bred females.
The Cole drew six runners for the turf, including Get Jets, Kharafa, and Call Provision. The Hettinger drew nine for the turf, led by Fourstar Crook, who had an eight-race winning streak snapped last month when beaten by Bar of Gold in the Yaddo.


