Road warrior Interstatedaydream speeds into Lady Jacqueline Stakes
?q=100)
Interstatedaydream has never shied away from taking her show on the road. The filly’s 10 career starts have come at seven different tracks in six states. Interstatedaydream tackles a new venue in Saturday’s $250,000 Lady Jacqueline Stakes, for fillies and mares going nine furlongs, the highlight of the Ohio Derby undercard at Thistledown.
Last year, Interstatedaydream, trained by Brad Cox, won the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico and Grade 3 Indiana Oaks, and was third in the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland behind eventual divisional champion Nest. She opened this season by finishing third to Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath and multiple Grade 1 winner Clairiere in the Grade 2 Azeri at Oaklawn Park.
Interstatedaydream finished fourth in the Grade 3 Doubledogdare at Keeneland before returning to Pimlico for the Allaire duPont Distaff on May 19. She raced on the front end and resolutely held on to win by a half-length over Misty Veil, remaining a perfect 2 for 2 at the nine-furlong distance of the Lady Jacqueline.
“I loved her going into the Azeri – I thought she was doing well,” Cox said. “She hooked obviously two very good horses in Secret Oath and Clairiere and ran an incredibly respectable race. She stayed at Oaklawn, her works leading up to the Keeneland race, they were okay. I just thought her works were a little flat there at Oaklawn when she shipped in to Keeneland.
:: Get ready for summer racing with a DRF Formulator Quarterly PP plan
“I brought her to Churchill as soon as the Keeneland race was over, [and] she threw up two 59s [before the duPont]. I kind of squeezed on her a little more, maybe that was the difference there late.”
In her most recent breeze, Interstatedaydream worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 on June 13 at Churchill Downs.
Misty Veil, trained by Mike Maker, and Le Da Vida (Ignacio Correas IV) finished second and third, respectively, in the duPont Distaff with the top three covered by just a length. They will face Interstatedaydream again on Saturday. Sixtythreecaliber, a Grade 3 winner last year, comes in off a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Shawnee at Churchill for Tom Amoss.
A number of Ohio-based fillies and mares make up the rest of the Lady Jacqueline field, chief among them Candlelight Hours and Market Success, both trained by James Jackson. Candlelight Hours is a three-time stakes winner, including the 2021 John W. Galbreath Memorial on the Best of Ohio card, which made her the champion statebred 2-year-old filly that year. Candlelight Hours comes into this open-company test having won her last two races, including the J. William Petro Memorial at Thistledown.
Market Success, second in last fall’s Best of Ohio Distaff, comes in off an allowance win at Thistledown.
◗ The $75,000 George Lewis Memorial, for older Ohio-bred runners, is a key piece of the undercard and rematches the top three finishers from last year in Mobil Solution, Relish the Ride, and Big Truck. Ohio-accredited champion Mobil Solution has not won since taking last year’s 1 1/16-mile Lewis Memorial for his 10th career stakes score, but is likely poised to move forward in his second start of this season. He was 11th in the Michael F. Rowland Memorial on May 6, well-beaten by Moester, who also is entered here.
This will be Mobil Solution’s sixth straight appearance in the George Lewis. He won the 2020 and 2022 editions and was second in 2018, 2019, and 2021.
◗ Rounding out the undercard stakes is the $75,000 Daniel Stearns Cleveland Gold Cup for Ohio-bred 3-year-olds, which poses a different challenge for some of the state’s top sophomores at 1 1/8 miles on dirt.
Trojan Tale won the Tall Stack Stakes at Belterra Park sprinting on dirt over Paint the Town and Fair and Square, last year’s champion Ohio-bred 2-year-old male. Trojan Tale then led Fair and Square home in the Best of Ohio Green Carpet Stakes going two turns on the Belterra turf earlier this month. Returnoninvestment crossed line third over Paint the Town, but those finishing positions were swapped due to a disqualification for interference.
Hey Eugene starts in Ohio for the first time after having faced solid competition. He was second on debut at Oaklawn to subsequent stakes winner Ryvit, then won his maiden. Most recently, he was fourth in the Paradise Creek on the Belmont Park turf behind multiple stakes winner Eye Witness.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.