Stephanie’s Kitten targets males in Woodford Reserve

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – Stephanie’s Kitten, the three-time Grade 1-winning mare, will take on males in her next start, the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day, trainer Chad Brown said Monday.

Brown noted that Stephanie’s Kitten is 3 for 3 over the Churchill turf and winless in two starts over the grass course at Keeneland, which hosts the Grade 1, $300,000 Jenny Wiley for fillies and mares April 11.

“I like the timing of it, and her affinity for Churchill is a big factor,” Brown said at Palm Meadows on Monday.

Stephanie’s Kitten, who has won three graded stakes at Churchill, finished second to Dayatthespa in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita. She began her 6-year-old campaign with a 1 1/2-length victory over stablemate Ball Dancing in the Grade 3 Hillsborough Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on March 7.

“We were just looking to start her year off, and she got the race she needed,” Brown said.

On Sunday, Stephanie’s Kitten worked five furlongs in 1:00 over the turf course at Palm Meadows.

Brown said Ball Dancing would be pointed to the Jenny Wiley. In her lone start at Keeneland, Ball Dancing finished second to Crown Queen in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup.