Toupie surges in stretch for Stormy Blues victory

Favored Toupie tracked the leaders from the outside, then stormed past them in the stretch to win Sunday’s $100,000 Stormy Blues Stakes for 3-year-old fillies racing 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Laurel Park.

A homebred by Uncle Mo owned by Wertheimer et Frere, Toupie settled outside in the second flight under jockey Jorge Ruiz, made a three-wide bid into the stretch to collar pacesetting El Terreno, then drew away to prevail by 2 1/4 lengths over Parola Sicura in 1:01.66 over the firm turf.

Cap Classique rallied late for third, a half-length behind the runner-up. Discreet Ops, El Terreno, Amidst Waves, Shuangxi, Miss Harriett, Roanan Goddess, Carmelina, Low Mileage, Concerti and My Girl Ginger completed the order of finish.

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Independenceavenue and main-track-only entrant Caress scratched.

Toupie returned $4.40 to win.

“I have a lot of confidence in this filly,” winning trainer Graham Motion said in a post-race interview broadcast by Laurel Park. “She’s very improved this year, and I think she’s turning into a really nice filly.”

Toupie broke from post position 10 in the 13-horse field.

“I said to Jorge before that [an outside post] was probably a better spot for her,” Motion continued. “The only bad race this filly has ever had was when I messed up and tried to stretch her out at Keeneland. Otherwise, she hasn’t done anything wrong.”

Foaled in Kentucky, Toupie is out of Grade 3-placed turf router Amertume from the family of Grade 1 winners First Defence, Empire Maker, Chiselling, Honest Lady, Chester House and Toussaud.

An eight-length winner of her debut sprinting on dirt at Laurel last summer, Toupie then placed against males in her turf debut, the Rosie’s Stakes at Colonial on Sept. 9. After finishing 10th of 11 around two turns in Keeneland’s Grade 2 Jessamine, Toupie scored Aqueduct’s Stewart Manor on Nov. 4 before completing her juvenile campaign with a third-place finish on dirt in Tampa Bay’s Sandpiper on Dec. 2.

Toupie made her seasonal debut with a second-place finish in Churchill’s Mamzelle on May 11. Motion indicated earlier in the week that Toupie will likely race at Saratoga over the summer.

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