Still There seeks first graded win in Gallant Bloom

ELMONT, N.Y. – Still There made a solid graded stakes debut when she finished second to the impressive Marley’s Freedom in last month’s Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga.

On Sunday, Still There will look to win her first graded stakes when she meets an accomplished group of female sprinters in the Grade 2, $300,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap at Belmont Park. The Gallant Bloom, at 6 1/2 furlongs, could be used as a stepping-stone to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3.

Still There, a 4-year-old New York-bred daughter of Union Rags trained by Dane Kobiskie, bobbled at the start of the Ballerina, but she was perhaps more compromised by being blocked behind horses at the head of the lane. Still, she ran on well in the stretch to be second, 3 1/4 lengths behind Marley’s Freedom while finishing 1 1/4 lengths clear of Gallant Bloom rival Lewis Bay.

“She was one of the few horses to [close] well on that real strong speed bias,” Kobiskie said. “I was super happy, super impressed. If I had drawn the outside post where the winner broke, I would have been right there.”

Kobiskie said Still There is the type of filly who touts herself in her morning training and said it wasn’t until the filly’s strong gallop Friday morning at a training center in Lexington, Ky., that Kobiskie committed to running her in the Gallant Bloom.

“She was feeling great this morning,” Kobiskie said on Friday. “I made up my mind this morning to send her.”

Kobiskie said he is a little concerned about the turn-back to 6 1/2 furlongs and her rail draw. David Cohen rides.

Lewis Bay pressed the pace of Finley’sluckycharm in the Ballerina and that may have cost her second. She returns to Belmont Park, where she has three wins and two seconds from five starts, including a sharp 5 1/2-length victory over Highway Star – last year’s Gallant Bloom winner – in the Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses here June 8.

“She loves Belmont,” trainer Chad Brown said. “I think at this stage of her career that can be accepted as definite, that she’s a Belmont horse.”

Brown also sends out Your Love, who is 3-1-0 from four starts at Belmont.

Highway Star is making her first start since the Bed o’ Roses. She kicked a stall, which kept her out of the Honorable Miss, and had a temperature that forced her out of the Ballerina. Trainer Rodrigo Ubillo believes Highway Star is the same filly this year as last year.

“She’s not any slower or any faster, she’s just the same, she’s consistent,” Ubillo said. “Even if she doesn’t win, she’s right there.”

Holiday Disguise beat Highway Star by a nose in the Critical Eye. She finished third in the Dancin Renee on June 16 and was given a freshening. Trainer Linda Rice said she targeted this race after she couldn’t make the Union Avenue at Saratoga.

Union Strike was only a half-length behind Lewis Bay when fourth in the Ballerina, her first start for trainer Steve Asmussen.