Princess Grace gets rematch with Stunning Sky in Mrs. Revere

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Princess Grace made the kind of run that’ll win a race nine times out of 10. Unfortunately for her, a record-setting rally from Stunning Sky snatched defeat from the jaws of victory last month in the Valley View at Keeneland.

“She was really unlucky to lose that day,” said Mike Stidham, who is sending Princess Grace back to Kentucky from his northern Maryland base for the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere Stakes on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Princess Grace, with Florent Geroux to ride, figures to contend for favoritism with Stunning Sky in the $200,000 Mrs. Revere, a 1 1/16-mile turf race representing one of the last major races of the year restricted to 3-year-old fillies.

Princess Grace won her first two starts before making her stakes debut Oct. 16 in the Grade 3 Valley View. Getting a perfect stalking trip, the Karakontie filly suddenly flew past a handful of rivals when opening a daylight lead inside the eighth pole, only to be collared in the final yards by Stunning Sky, who finished the 1 1/16-mile distance in a stakes-record 1:41.33.

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“We’re going to try it again,” Stidham said, adding that Princess Grace was scheduled to leave the Fair Hill Training Center on Thursday for the long van ride to Churchill. “She’s been training really well, and this kind of spot makes sense for us, especially as well as she ran last out.”

Stunning Sky, with Ricardo Santana Jr. back to ride for trainer Mike Maker, also returns for the Mrs. Revere. The late-running daughter of Declaration of War snapped a seven-race losing streak with her first graded triumph in the Valley View.

At least seven fillies were expected when entries were drawn here Wednesday, with Hendy Woods, How Ironic, and Pass the Plate among the rest. Tamahere, initially considered for the Mrs. Revere, did not travel from New York for trainer Chad Brown as one of the would-be favorites.

The Mrs. Revere is the first of eight graded stakes to be run during the final 12 days of a fall meet that runs through Nov. 29. The Grade 1 Clark, the annual fall highlight, is set for Nov. 27.