Thursday Girl leads hefty Russell exacta in Brookmeade Stakes

Thursday Girl, a 4-year-old filly trained by Brittany Russell, saved all the ground early and narrowly avoided trouble to win the $125,000 Brookmeade Stakes at Colonial Downs on Friday. Her stablemate, 4-year-old filly Sun Cross, closed fast for second, securing a one-two finish for Russell.

Thursday Girl had not run in stakes competition since September 2023, when trainer Arnaud Delacour sent her to Colonial for the $125,000 Jamestown in her second career start.

The filly has had an eventful career since then, bouncing between four different trainers and even trying a steeplechase earlier this year. She had not won since September, but returning to Colonial did the trick on Saturday, as she easily picked off state-restricted rivals late in the 1 1/16-mile turf race to win by 1 1/2 lengths.

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Odds for the Brookmeade were thrown off significantly when bettors made 2-1 morning-line second choice Quadra the 2-5 favorite in the gate. When that early leader faded back to fourth, the six-horse field suddenly offered considerable value. Thursday Girl, who drifted from 4-1 to 12-1, paid $26.20 to win. The $1 exacta with her 13-1 stablemate paid $45.80.

While Quadra was running 1 1/2 lengths clear of 5-2 second choice Mila Candy through an opening quarter in 23.88, jockey Sheldon Russell was trying to settle Thursday Girl, who was rank in third entering the first turn. The filly eventually settled along the inside on the backstretch while Quadra completed the half-mile in 48.46.

On the far turn, Quadra successfully turned away Mila Candy but didn’t last much longer herself, taking a one-length lead into the stretch while clearly flagging. Thursday Girl was the nearest rallying rival, but she entered the stretch without running room behind the leader. With plenty of horse under him, Russell angled Thursday Girl off the rail, circling just behind Quadra’s heels to pull alongside and pass with ease. She completed the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.46.

Sun Cross and Buzzaway, a 4-year-old filly trained by Horacio De Paz, picked up the pieces from the back of the six-horse field. Sun Cross and jockey Ben Curtis outkicked their closing rival to take second by 1 1/2 lengths and complete the lockout for Russell.

Glenn Petty Stakes

Noquestionaboutit, a 3-year-old filly trained by Mike Trombetta, upset 2-5 favorite Mystic Seaport to win the $125,000 Glenn Petty Stakes at Colonial Downs on Saturday. In her stakes debut under Jorge Ruiz, she made an early move on the far turn and managed to outkick the heavy favorite in the stretch to win by 1 1/2 lengths.

Trombetta’s filly was one of several runners in the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint who might have taken the early lead, but when 48-1 longshot Lenmagnetta pushed the issue through an opening quarter-mile in 22.17, Noquestionaboutit was momentarily content to sit just behind second.

When Lanmagnetta hit a wall on the far turn and began fading to the back of the field, Noquestionaboutit easily inherited the lead, swinging wide into the stretch with a half-length lead. While Ruiz was kicking away for the sprint home, Mystic Seaport and Mychel Sanchez were making a determined bid from fifth to move into second along the inside.

Early in the stretch, it seemed like Mystic Seaport was ready to breeze past the leader traveling wide, but Noquestionaboutit responded to the challenge and found more with a furlong to go. After coming up short in three straight open-company allowances in Maryland, she earned her first turf victory in state-restricted stakes company, completing the 5 1/2-furlong race in 1:02.87 and paying $10.60 to win.

Mystic Seaport, the beaten favorite trained by Jamie Ness, had little to offer after being turned away, prevailing to finish second by a neck in a blanket finish over Three Times, a 4-year-old filly trained by Arnaud Delacour, and Chickahominy, a 6-year-old mare trained by Karen Godsey.

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