Thankful jumps into stakes ranks in Comely

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Thanksgiving may have passed but horseplayers could still have reason to be Thankful on Friday at Aqueduct.

Thankful, winner of two straight races, makes her stakes debut in Friday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Comely Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. The Comely, at 1 1/8 miles, tops a 10-race card that begins at 11:50 a.m. and also includes the $100,000 Forever Together Stakes for fillies and mares on turf and the $100,000 Gio Ponti Stakes for 3-year-olds on turf.

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Thankful, a daughter of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, won a 1 1/8-mile maiden race at Saratoga in August. She came back to win a first-level allowance by a head over Mrs. Danvers going a one-turn mile at Belmont on Sept. 27. Mrs. Danvers came back to win her next start and is also entered in the Comely.

“I think she’s better around two turns at a mile and an eighth, but she was good enough to get the job done,” said Todd Pletcher, who trains Thankful for the Bass Stables of Ramona and Perry Bass.

In her maiden win, at 1 1/8 miles, Thankful stumbled at the start and rallied from fifth to get the victory.

“We anticipated she’d be on the lead that day and got away in a tangle, and I thought ran a solid race even though it was a less than ideal situation,” Pletcher said.

Miss Marissa brings a three-race winning streak into the Comely, capped by a neck victory in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico on Oct. 3. Trainer Jim Ryerson said Miss Marissa’s winning streak coincided with the filly gaining and holding her weight well in addition to getting out in distance to 1 1/8 miles.

“It seems like a mile and an eighth, two turns has been her game of late,” Ryerson said. “She looks a good bit more mature and she’s carrying her weight better.”

Miss Marissa, who breaks from the rail under Dylan Davis, is the co highweight at 124 pounds. Project Whiskey, the winner of the Delaware Oaks, was also assigned 124 pounds in the Comely, but was also entered in Saturday’s Safely Kept at Laurel and could run there. They spot 2 to 6 pounds to the rest of the field.

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The wildcard in the Comely could be Gale. A daughter of Tonalist, Gale is coming off a 13 1/2-length allowance win versus Maryland breds in a race that was scheduled for the turf but transferred to dirt. Sheldon Russell dropped his whip at the eighth pole, though Gale was eight in front at that stage so it was of little consequence.

Of the blowout victory, trainer Jonathan Thomas said: “We weren’t expecting that but we were certainly very happy to see it. Clearly this is going to be an acid test against a better group of fillies, but she’s trained forwardly and acts like she’s got some quality.”

Jose Ortiz rides Gale on Friday.

Ice Princess is a New York-bred stakes winner who is 2 for 2 at Aqueduct. She was beaten by Makingcents – also in this field – in the Fleet Indian Stakes for statebreds at Saratoga on Sept. 4.

Mrs. Danvers has the pedigree to suggest stretching out in distance won’t be an issue. Toned Up, Pure Rhythm, and My Sweet Wife complete the field.