Pin Up Betty rarely misses the board on the Churchill Downs turf course, and she certainly had her excuses finishing third here on Kentucky Derby weekend. But if she is to repeat last year’s win in the Grade 3, $275,000 Mint Julep Stakes on Saturday in Louisville, she will have to face another local stakes winner, Proctor Street, who defeated her here last fall – as well as graded stakes winners Charlene’s Dream and Medoro, who seem to take their form wherever they go. Pin Up Betty, trained by Mike Maker, sports a record of 8-4-1-1 on the Churchill turf, including Grade 3 victories in the 2024 Regret and last year’s Mint Julep. In the 1 1/16-mile Mint Julep, she overtook leader Charlene’s Dream for a 1 1/2-length win. She followed up with a win in the Anchorage at Churchill, but following that, she seemed to go off form, including an uncharacteristic fifth in the Cardinal in November at Churchill – a race won by Proctor Street. After starting this season with a stiff test out of her winter break, finishing fifth in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland, Pin Up Betty showed flashes of her old form back on her favorite course in the Grade 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile. Despite being bumped at the start and having to move seven wide for clear room, she finished with interest to be third. Proctor Street is looking for her first win since the Cardinal for Brendan Walsh, who also trained her mother, the Churchill-loving Proctor’s Ledge. Proctor Street comes to the Mint Julep off back-to-back graded stakes placings, including finishing third on Derby weekend in the Grade 3 Modesty while making a rally inside. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Charlene’s Dream is making her second start of the year. Going shorter than usual in the Grade 2 Giant’s Causeway at Keeneland, she drew post 2, tried to press the pace, and faded to 11th. “We almost scratched her, just because we were inside and then there’s a lot more speed,” trainer Ed Moger Jr. said. “We almost scratched, and as it turned out, I wish we never ran it.” Going longer, Charlene’s Dream won the Grade 3 Gallorette at Pimlico and the Grade 2 Beverly D at Colonial last year, dictating the terms on the front end. Drawn in the inside post here, Moger said she does not necessarily need the lead, but he is not concerned about her lasting if she does wind up out front. “She’s a really, really talented horse,” Moger said. “I don’t ever feel like she has to be on the lead, but she gets on the lead, and I always think that if she’s on the lead in the first turn, I feel like they can’t catch her because she doesn’t get tired. She loves to run, and she just runs harder.” Charlene’s Dream would likely find herself joined on the front end by Stylish Sue, who led throughout to win the Latonia at Turfway and then led until the stretch of the Modesty before finishing fifth. She shortens up slightly from 1 1/8 miles here. A pace battle up front would suit the late-running Pin Up Betty as well as Proctor Street, who could be closer but prefers a target. Medoro, already a Grade 3 winner and multiple Grade 1-placed in California, seems to have reached a new level this year while hitting the road. She won the Marie G. Krantz Memorial at Fair Grounds, then was second on the same course to Expensive Queen in the Albert M. Stall Memorial. The form of that race was upheld when Expensive Queen and Segesta dead-heated for the win in the Jenny Wiley – with Medoro just three-quarters of a length behind in third. “I think that may have been the best race she has run,” trainer Peter Eurton told Keeneland publicity the following morning. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Regret Stakes While several of the 3-year-old fillies in the Grade 3, $275,000 Regret Stakes have been knocking heads in Florida and Kentucky, Lilo Lil is the newcomer to this group. She is overlooked on the morning line despite being the only one to win at this 1 1/8-mile distance. Lilo Lil comes in from California for Michael McCarthy, who has had good stakes success at this meet. She comes off a victory in the Providencia at this distance, although that was her maiden win in her fifth career start, and she lasted by a nose after getting away with slow fractions. The race has already produced a next-out winner. John Velazquez, who rode Lilo Lil in a pair of races in Kentucky last year, gets back aboard. The cerebral rider will surely have learned something from their prior experiences. A canny ride will be needed from Velazquez, as Lilo Lil won’t get away with an easy pace thanks to Tam Tam. That filly, winner of the Sanibel Island going 7 1/2 furlongs at Gulfstream, led in the Grade 2 Edgewood going 1 1/16 miles at Churchill before being caught by a head near the line. Storm’s Wake, rallying winner of the Grade 2 Appalachian at Keeneland, was fifth in the Edgewood. Stakes winner Indigo Woods was sixth in the Edgewood, and Grade 3 winner Dandona was eighth. ◗ Saturday's card will feature a $79,180 carryover in the late pick five after the bet went unsolved Friday. The sequence begins in race 7 (post: 3:53 p.m. Eastern) and consists of five Grade 3 stakes. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.