Undeafeated filly Bleecker Street must beat stablemate Fluffy Socks in Modesty
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bleecker Street enters Friday’s $250,000 Modesty Stakes at Churchill Downs perfect after five starts. The chief obstacle to her coming out of the Grade 3 test with that unblemished record intact figures to be her Chad Brown stablemate Fluffy Socks, who wheels back on three weeks’ rest off a troubled second-place finish against allowance competition at Keeneland.
The Modesty is carded at a mile and an eighth on the turf and drew a field of nine filly and mare grass specialists.
Bleecker Street did not launch her career until August of 2021, when she was 3. She won at Monmouth Park and the Meadowlands in her only two outings last year, and continued her winning ways this past winter at Tampa Bay Downs. She captured all three of her starts there, including the Grade 3 Endeavour and Grade 2 Hillsborough in relatively easy fashion. Her Beyer Speed Figures continued to improve with every race, topping out at 94 for her 3 3/4-length victory in the Hillsborough.
Bleecker Street breaks from post 8 with Flavien Prat aboard.
“It’s really hard to start your career off 5 for 5, especially on the turf,” said Brown. “She’s doing fine. She’s gotten a little bit of rest between starts and she’s coming into the race super. She’s done nothing wrong so far. I’m a little concerned about the lack of pace in the field, and she’s got a little bit of a challenging post out there.
“She’s going to have to find her spot. This will be the first time [Flavien] Prat has ridden her, but I’m confident he’ll figure it out.”
Fluffy Socks was beaten three-quarters of a length by Curly Ruth as the 6-5 favorite making her 2022 debut under allowance conditions at Keeneland on April 14. Fluffy Socks closed out her 3-year-old season last year with a series of big efforts, sandwiching third-place finishes in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks and Grade 1 American Oaks around a victory in the Grade 2 Sands Point at Belmont Park.
Fluffy Socks breaks from post 1 on Friday.
“She got an absolute nightmare of a wide trip off the layoff in her last start at Keeneland,” said Brown. “It was actually remarkable she hung in there for second. It was going to be a prep for the New York Handicap down the road. She bounced out of the race very well, so I decided to enter in this race and see where I drew.
“She fits in the race very well and she drew well, so I’m going to run. It’s not really my thing to run back off the layoff in three weeks, but I’m going to try to squeeze another race in there. If it works, it will be great. If it doesn’t, I’ll say, ‘Why did I do that?’ ”
Other key contenders in the Modesty include Curly Ruth, who figures as a prominent player right from the outset in a Modesty field lacking much early pace; Pass the Plate, who rallied from last to finish third, just a half-length behind Fluffy Socks at Keeneland; and Grade 3 winner Lake Lucerne.