Trial just missed against a fine foe in the My Charmer Stakes last month at Turfway, and Literate was right behind her. Both have license to improve as they match up in the $125,000 Likely Exchange Stakes on Saturday night in Florence, Ky., a race for fillies and mares going the same one mile on the Tapeta. Trial, a 5-year-old mare by former Claiborne Farm stallion Runhappy and out of a stakes-winning daughter of the farm’s champion Blame, races for Claiborne’s Dell Hancock alongside the farm’s longtime partner, Adele Dilschneider. Fittingly, Claiborne presents the Likely Exchange as the final race of its Make Your Mare series at Turfway. Last month’s Holiday Inaugural and My Charmer, along with the Likely Exchange, award the top three finishers financial credits to be used toward the stud fees of Claiborne stallions in the 2026 or 2027 seasons. Trial, who was allowance-placed multiple times during last year’s Turfway winter meet, was making her first start in five months in the My Charmer, part of Turfway’s Synthetic Championships card. She stalked the pace and held the lead briefly in the stretch before being run down by Caitlinhergrtness, a Canadian classic winner and champion in 2024 who also is Grade 1-placed. Trial will likely be tighter in her second start off the layoff for Tommy Drury Jr. Literate, too, has room to improve. She won the Grade 3 Trillium Stakes on Woodbine’s synthetic in July, when she was trained by Marty Drexler. She was transferred to trainer Brad Cox to compete in Kentucky, and in her first start for the new barn, she finished sixth in the Grade 3 Chilukki, a one-turn mile on dirt at Churchill Downs. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Switched back to synthetic, Literate was a closing third in the My Charmer, missing Trial by a neck. She could continue to improve on her preferred surface after getting more acclimated to her new barn. The internationally campaigned Devassa also has room to improve in her second U.S. start. The Brazilian-bred, a Group 3 winner in Uruguay, campaigned in Dubai earlier this year. In her first start in the United States and first outing since March, she was second in an allowance in October in Indiana. Cairo Consort, a Grade 3 winner on turf, is likely to need this race in her debut for Chris Davis. It will be her first race since March, and that 11th-place effort was her lone start of 2025 after not racing since the June 2024. The well-bred Godolphin homebred Love Song, a half-sister to Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide, is coming off an allowance win here at Turfway. Velvet Devil, making her synthetic debut, won back-to-back allowance races on dirt in Kentucky last fall before finishing second in the Cheryl White Memorial in November at Mahoning Valley. Condone, a last-out allowance winner at Indiana, and Hello Hello Hello, who is cross-entered in a Jan. 14 Turfway allowance, complete the field. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.