Thewayiam back from long break in allowance turf mile

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Saturday’s 12-race program will be highlighted by a $48,000 optional claimer for fillies and mares at one mile on turf. The race drew a quality field of 11 for turf, plus Pure Lemon, who has been entered for the main track only.

The Grade 1-placed Thewayiam will race for the first time since finishing far back in the Grade 2 Lake Placid over a soft course at Saratoga on Aug. 18. She’ll be facing older horses for the first time in a career that began with three starts in her native France before being transferred to trainer Graham Motion during the summer of her 2-year-old campaign in 2017.

Thewayiam won a pair of Grade 3 stakes here during the winter of 2018, the Sweetest Chant and Herecomesthebride, although her most noteworthy effort was arguably a second-place finish behind Athena in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks several months later. Thewayiam has trained steadily at Palm Meadows for the past several months.

Miss Mo Mentum, the winner of the Grade 3 Selene a year ago at Woodbine, should benefit from her local bow, when she finished eighth of nine under optional-claiming conditions on March 7. The outing was the first in six months for the Uncle Mo filly, trained by Mark Casse for owner Gary Barber.

Vow to Recover is the only 3-year-old in the field and most recently was second in the Sanibel Island Stakes on March 30.