Sister Troienne heavily favored in Valley View after troubled return

The 3-year-old filly Sister Troienne returned from a six-month layoff on Oct. 1 at Belmont in the Winter Memories Stakes. Her connections, Woodslane Farm and trainer Brian Lynch, were happy to have her back. They were not so happy with the way the Winter Memories unfolded.

A deeply troubled second in the Winter Memories, Sister Troienne should return to her winning ways Friday at Keeneland, where she starts heavily favored in the Valley View Stakes. For sophomore fillies at 1 1/16 miles on grass, the Grade 2 Valley View provides a divisional opportunity for horses not quite up to contesting the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, which was run Oct. 10 at Keeneland. The race carries a Grade 1-class purse, $400,000.

Sister Troienne won a first-level Keeneland turf allowance a year ago by 3 1/2 lengths, the second in a skein of five straight wins, the last three of them stakes races at Gulfstream Park. Sister Troienne’s armor showed a tiny crack when she finished a close second Feb. 28 in the Herecomesthebride at Gulfstream, and her fifth in the Appalachian this past April at Keeneland showed Lynch that she needed a break.

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“She just needed a little bit of time off,” Lynch said. “We wanted to get her back and ready for these races; the Winter Memories, the Valley View, then maybe entertain the Mrs. Revere at Churchill and get her ready for a good winter campaign.”

Of course talent had much to do with Sister Troienne’s winning streak, but she was also a big filly with a physical presence, more mature than most of her peers.

“The time off certainly didn’t hurt her. She’s an imposing filly and she’s certainly grown into her body. It seems like she’s doing really well.”

In the Winter Memories, Sister Troienne broke sharply before being eased back into a stalking position. That was fine, but by the time the field reached the turn, Sister Troienne had been shuffled all the way back to ninth, hemmed in along the rail, unable to improve her position. Navigating the bend, Sister Troienne found room on the fence to move forward, but with a wall of horses ahead of her and a rival flanking her at the five-sixteenths marker, her rider elected to attempt a nonexistent inside passage.

By the time Sister Troienne worked her way outside and into the clear, she’d passed the eighth pole, and victorious Shelzawa, rallying outside, had passed Sister Troienne. Sister Troienne closed the gap late but fell three-quarters of a length short.

Irad Ortiz Jr. takes over the mount in the Valley View, and on paper, there’s no one who can beat Sister Troienne.

Define found the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks on Aug. 22 too challenging but found far more pliant foes defeating first-level allowance competition Sept. 20 at Churchill. Define probably has upside – and will require it to challenge the favorite.

Ultimate Love would prove Sister Troienne’s chief rival if she ran back to her summer graded stakes form at Saratoga, but she faded to sixth in the Winter Memories. That marked the sixth start of Ultimate Love’s form cycle, and maybe she’s now the filly who needs a break.

Myrtlewood

Discretion probably will prove the better part of valor when Elewene lines up for the $300,000 Myrtlewood Stakes, the supporting feature Friday at Keeneland.

Elewene ran three good sprint races this summer to start her career, landing a first-level allowance Sept. 10 at Churchill. Hunting a spot for their two-time winner, connections entered Elewene in the Grade 1 Alcibiades over 1 1/16 miles on Oct. 2 at Keeneland, but instead of making her route debut against a couple of the best 2-year-old fillies in North America, Elewene was scratched and sticks to sprinting in the six-furlong Myrtlewood.

She’s favorably drawn outside six foes, and Jose Ortiz, who rides Elewene for the first time, can judiciously dole out her speed down the backstretch and into the turn.

The morning line sets Angel of Kirk the 9-5 favorite, and she does exit a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Spinaway, but during an unusually slow Keeneland meet, trainer Brad Cox has gone just 3 for 17 with favorites.

Miss Anna didn’t quite stay a one-turn mile last out in the Pocahontas and will appreciate cutting back to six furlongs.

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