Three-headed threat from Rice

ELMONT, N.Y. - Good things come in threes, and in this case Karakorum Elektra, Mohegan Sky, and Meriwether Jessica are a trio of Linda Rice-trained fillies and mares entered in Thursday's $65,000 Memories of Silver, an overnight stakes scheduled for six furlongs on Belmont Park's inner turf.

The three New York-breds race as separate wagering interests and any among them is capable of beating open company.

"All three like the Belmont course, and we're running out of time before the end of the grass-racing season so this is a good opportunity," said Rice.

Karakorum Elektra's five wins on turf at Belmont include two against open males at the spring-summer meet. She rebounded from two subpar efforts at Saratoga with a runner-up finish here last out, and figures to be a forward factor.

"She always seems to run well at Belmont," said Rice. "I think we've got her going in the right direction again."

Mohegan Sky ran a close third in last year's Grade 3 Jaipur Stakes on yielding ground, so the 6-year-old mare may benefit from last Saturday's deluge that produced more than two inches of rain.

"She's done some of her best work on soft turf," Rice agreed.

Meriwether Jessica has had a frustrating campaign this year. Her three runner-up finishes from five starts include neck losses to local turf sprint terror Redefined, and Canadian Ballet, another Rice-trained filly who recently won the $200,000 Turf Amazon at Philadelphia Park.

"Meriwether Jessica has been unlucky this season," said Rice. "She ran in a two-other-than last out and had a very tough trip. It's just been a tough season for her all the way around."

Should the race come off the turf, the versatile Meriwether Jessica ran second in four consecutive stakes on dirt as a 2-year-old.

Other contenders on turf include the freshened Lindelaan, who won a $75,000 stakes at Mountaineer Racetrack in her second U.S. start for Christophe Clement; and Stormy Relations, who cuts back for Dave Donk after setting the pace to deep stretch in the John Hettinger Stakes at 1o1/8 miles.

Tar Heel Mom is making her turf debut, and drops out of the key-race Ballerina for Stanley Hough. If the race comes off the turf, she would likely vie for favoritism with main track only entrant J Z Warrior, a two-time stakes winner at Belmont for Bill Mott.