Sunna puts grass streak on the line in Caress
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Little did trainer J. Kent Sweezey realize when he first opted to try Sunna on the turf this winter at Gulfstream Park, what a profound effect that decision would have on his young filly’s career. The maneuver instantly turned the former conditioned claimer into a win machine on the grass, where she is one of the favorites in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Caress Stakes at Saratoga.
Sunna has won all four of her starts on turf, including the The Very One Stakes at Laurel Park on May 15 and a high-priced conditioned allowance at Churchill Downs three weeks later. She’s improved her Beyer Speed Figures with each successive victory.
“She showed some speed early on in her career, but then was kind of spinning her wheels the farther she went in her works,” Sweeney explained. “I always had it in the back of my mind to try her on the turf, and obviously it’s all worked out for the best.”
Sweezey acknowledged that Sunna, a 4-year-old homebred owned by Leverett Miller, didn’t beat the toughest of fields winning her stakes debut in wire-to-wire fashion in Maryland. But Sweezey was encouraged when she came right back to validate that performance, defeating what he believes might have been an even stronger group under allowance conditions less than a month later at Churchill Downs. She’ll be making her Saratoga debut on Saturday.
“She’s already won on three different courses, so coming to Saratoga doesn’t worry me,” said Sweeney. “If this was a 12-horse field and full of speed, I’d probably have a lot of concern. But I’m going into the race very confident, and [jockey] Joel [Rosario] is very confident in her, too. She’s quick and sharp, and if she breaks well, hopefully they’ll be looking at her behind the whole way. She’s a fourth- or fifth-generation homebred, and getting some black type would be huge for the Millers.”
Sunna will face just five rivals in her graded stakes debut. The group assembled for the 5 1/2-furlong sprint includes a formidable pair for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., the Grade 2 stakes winner In Our Time and multiple graded stakes-placed Movin’ On Up.
In Our Time rallied from just off the pace to capture the Grade 2 Giant’s Causeway at Keeneland during the spring before finishing fifth in the Grade 2 Intercontinental at Saratoga on June 4.
“I thought she was very disappointing last time, although she kind of stumbled a bit at the start, which cost her getting into her best stride early on,” said Joseph. “I feel like we have to use her speed a little bit more. She’s perfectly drawn in the outside post, and she should be more forwardly placed if she breaks well, which she usually does.”
Movin’ On Up finished third, beaten 2 1/4 lengths by In Our Time, in the Giant’s Causeway while turning back to 5 1/2 furlongs off a steady diet of two-turn races. She is also exiting one of the most productive filly and mare turf races of the season, finishing fourth in the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile on May 2 at Churchill Downs. The winner and second-place finishers from that race, Classic Q and Portfolio Duration, both returned to win Grade 1s in their subsequent starts.
“Turning her back to a sprint at Keeneland was basically an experiment, and she ran really well. And her last race at Churchill might have been her strongest yet, considering the field has produced two Grade 1 winners,” Joseph said. “Obviously it’s been a little frustrating she hasn’t won in a long time” – she’s lost nine straight since winning in March 2025 – “but she’s knocking on the door. This race came up light, and I think the smaller field is going to help her.”
Italian Soiree is yet another member of the Distaff Turf Mile field to bounce back with a huge effort out of the race, coming off a ninth-place finish that day to outrun her 18-1 odds in the Intercontinental by finishing second while turning back to her preferred distance. She posted a lifetime-best 97 Beyer in the process.
Obstreperous, who takes a big jump up the class ladder off a starter allowance win at Monmouth Park, and Zeitlos, who is winless in four starts on the turf but ran a huge race when finishing second in the 2025 Caress, complete the compact lineup.