Promise Me Silver eyes Debutante gold

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Promise Me Silver would do very well to continue emulating her older stablemate Fiftyshadesofgold.

Both are gray fillies trained by Bret Calhoun. Both easily won their career debuts at Lone Star Park in Texas-bred company. Both were sired by obscure sons of Unbridled’s Song: Promise Me Silver is by Silver City, and Fiftyshadesofgold is by My Golden Song.

Whether these similarities continue Saturday will be determined by the results of the $100,000 Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs, a six-furlong race that Fiftyshadesofgold won last year by eight lengths en route to a prominent position she continues to hold within her division.

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Promise Me Silver, off a 6 3/4-length romp at Lone Star, is one of the two obvious favorites in a field of six 2-year-old fillies in the 114th running of the Debutante, the eighth of 10 races Saturday.

“That was an impressive debut for her at Lone Star,” said Calhoun, who trains Promise Me Silver for breeder Robert Luttrell. “The good thing is she’s worked well since,” Calhoun added, alluding to three subsequent breezes over the Churchill surface.

Promise Me Silver, with Robby Albarado to ride, will break from post 3 in the Debutante, right alongside the other favorite, Unbridled Reward (post 4, Alan Garcia), a romping winner here of her only start May 30.

FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Rousanne (5-1 morning line). Trainer Steve Asmussen is 6 for 45 (13 percent with only $0.65 ROI) over the past five years with debut winner 2-year-olds making second start in dirt sprints. Click here for more details.

FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Promise Me Silver (3-1 morning line). Trainer Bret Calhoun is 9 for 31 (29 percent with a $3.13 ROI) over the past two years with 2-year-olds in dirt sprints at Churchill. Click here for more details.

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“There seems to be some nice fillies in there,” said Mark Casse, who trains Unbridled Reward for John Oxley. “But we think our filly is special, we really do. That’s why they put them together in the gate and let them run out of there. I can sit here and say anything I want about her, but we’ll just have to wait to see what happens Saturday.”

The balance of the Debutante field is Rousanne (post 1, Shaun Bridgmohan), the winner of a slow maiden race here May 22 for four-time Debutante-winning trainer Steve Asmussen; Irish Nuggets (post 2, Julio Felix), a winner over Polytrack at Arlington Park in her only start; and Rachel’s Ready (post 6, Corey Lanerie) and Ol Sanish (post 5, Leandro Goncalves), the one-two finishers in a June 8 maiden race here.

The Debutante, which dates to 1895, had been a longtime Kentucky Derby Day fixture until being moved to a later date at the spring meet in 1982. Among its most notable winners were Alcibiades (1929), Furl Sail (1966), Nervous John (1978), Hollywood Wildcat (1992), Silverbulletday (1998), and Chilukki (1999). It was a Grade 3 race from 1996 to 2012.

First post Saturday is 12:45 p.m. Eastern, with the Debutante going at 4:18.

◗ The Debutante will be directly followed by the $65,000 Roxelana (race 9, post 4:49), a six-furlong overnight stakes that drew an excellent field of fillies and mares.

Speedinthruthecity, with Julien Leparoux riding for Asmussen, looks like the filly to beat in a field of 10. Aside from two sharp victories this winter at Oaklawn Park, the 4-year-old filly also has performed very well over the Churchill surface, having won twice here last spring.

Other logical contenders include Quiet Success, Warm Breeze, Devious D’Oro, and Anahauc. Among the outsiders is Blueeyesintherein, the 2012 Debutante winner.

The Roxelana is named for a standout sprinter who won the 2000 La Troienne at Churchill by nearly 12 lengths for the late William “Blackie” Huffman.