Spring Steen returns to Miranda Diane stage seeking repeat victory

The trainer Francisco Bravo is back racing at Will Rogers after serving a suspension, of that there can be no question. But there is some question whether the Bravo-trained Spring Steen is in anything close to the sort of form that won her the 2019 Miranda Diane Stakes by nine lengths.

Spring Steen won the Miranda Diane in a common gallop a year ago but comes into Monday’s renewal of the $55,000 sprint race for older Oklahoma-bred fillies and mares after a relatively flat performance April 8. Making her first start since Dec. 12, Spring Steen finished sixth, beaten nearly seven lengths, in the Wilma Mankiller, an open stakes at Will Rogers.

The move to statebred competition should aid her chances, but Spring Steen, returning from a layoff in April 2019, won her Will Rogers comeback start in a romp, albeit in a considerably easier spot than the Mankiller. Spring Steen is one of 10 entrants in the six-furlong Miranda Diane, which came up relatively strong for the class level. Bravo has a second starter, Lady Orchid, who also ran below her best form in the Mankiller, finishing seventh.

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Bravo, a veteran horseman who in a normal year would be readying for a move to Canterbury Park this time of the season, was suspended early this Will Rogers meet because of a positive test for xylazine from April 2019 at Will Rogers.

Spring Steen, a 5-year-old mare by Maclean’s Music, ran strongly through midsummer during a productive 2019 campaign but had tailed off by the time Bravo’s stable returned to Oklahoma from Minnesota. She failed to make an impact in three Remington starts between September and December and was equally unimpressive in the Mankiller but wouldn’t need an outrageous step forward to get back into the thick of things Monday.

Three Chords comes in from Oaklawn Park for trainer Kenny Smith and owner-breeder Toby Keith’s Dream Walkin Farm, and while she found Oaklawn open allowance competition slightly too salty this spring, Three Chords has consistently raced effectively in Oklahoma-bred stakes competition. Her Oklahoma success, however, has come at Remington and she makes her first Will Rogers start in the Miranda Diane.

She’s Shiney finished fourth in the Mankiller, her first start in 3 1/2 months, and as a 4-year-old remains open to improvement over already solid Oklahoma-bred stakes form. Lady Orchid beat her three times last fall but at distances longer than Monday’s six-furlong test.

* Beginning with its March 27 card, Will Rogers will offer rolling daily doubles and pick threes as well as a late pick five on each of its racing programs. Will Rogers briefly considered changing their early pick five to a jackpot style wager earlier this month before leaving in place the standard multi-race structure of the wager.