Puntsville drops into allowance following runner-up finish in stakes

Puntsville, who has run in three straight stakes races, winning two and most recently finishing a solid second in the Brandywine Stakes at Indiana Grand, drops into allowance competition in the featured second race Sunday at Arlington.

A 4-year-old Illinois-bred by Cashel Castle, Puntsville has won 7 of 13 starts and qualifies for this third-level optional $80,000 claimer only because her Illinois-bred wins, including stakes, don’t count against her eligibility. She’s one of eight fillies and mares in a field that includes her stablemate My Mertie, but trainer Michele Boyce said Puntsville, who shows no published workouts since the July 19 Brandywine, will take her spot in the starting gate.

“I really didn’t think this race would go, and I didn’t prepare her the way I normally would, but she should be fit enough, and I think she’ll be fine,” said Boyce.

Puntsville breaks from the rail and figures to go straight to the front under Victor Santiago. She has never won a race beyond six furlongs, and it’s possible that the 6 1/2-furlong trip Sunday could be farther than her best.

“The extra distance is the question, no doubt about it,” Boyce said.

Natural Wonder appears to be the main danger. The 4-year-old Natural Wonder, trained by Sally Schu, has won all three of her starts and returned from a nine-month layoff with a going-away turf-sprint allowance victory here last month. Natural Wonder, by Summer Bird, won a Keeneland allowance race on dirt last fall after scoring a debut win over Arlington’s Polytrack and is clearly a versatile, talented filly.