Sugar Sweet brings strong company lines to turf sprint

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When one of the top three finishers from a race in a horse’s past performances wins next out, that horse’s name becomes italicized in the company lines – highlighting the race as potentially being of above-average quality.

Sugar Sweet, one of 11 fillies and mares entered in a second-level optional claimer that goes as the seventh of eight races Thursday evening at Churchill Downs, shows exactly that in her PPs – with the horse who was third behind her March 6 at Fair Grounds, Sweet Basil, being italicized after winning an optional claimer April 11 at Gulfstream Park.

What traditional past performances do not show – yet can be easily accessed in DRF Formulator – is that the runner-up to Sugar Sweet last out, Moonlit Stroll, next finished a close third in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff on Kentucky Derby Day behind Dame Dorothy and champion Judy the Beauty.

Having defeated Moonlit Stroll and Sweet Basil – and earned the top last-race Beyer Speed Figure in the field, an 85, in the process – points to Sugar Sweet having a strong chance in the seventh, a five-furlong turf sprint that goes at 8:09 p.m. Eastern.

Florent Geroux, her regular jockey at Fair Grounds this winter for owner and trainer Louie Roussel III, gets the call Thursday night.

KEY CONTENDERS

Zamquick (Last 3 Beyers: 76-74-82)

◗ Stakes-placed at Gulfstream in February, she has since gone unplaced in two starts but now returns to a Churchill turf course over which she is 1 for 1.

Mizzen Moon (Last 3 Beyers: 76-81-78)

◗ Another stakes-placed filly, she is cutting back in distance after performing well in short turf routes through the winter at Fair Grounds. She has proven that she can sprint effectively on turf, though she could be at a disadvantage by not having raced for more than three months.

Ready for Summer (Last 3 Beyers: 81-79-77)

◗ She finished a couple of lengths in front of Zamquick when third in a similar second-level turf allowance April 16 at Keeneland on soft ground but also showed the ability to handle firm going earlier in her career.

Sugar Sweet (Last 3 Beyers: 85-77-63)

◗ A 4-year-old daughter of Mr. Greeley, she has a stalking style that looks well suited to a considerable amount of pace in the lineup. She shipped to Churchill from Roussel’s summer base in Chicago.