Valadorna ready to step it up after Tiffany Lass win

Valadorna knocked out the first stakes win of her career Tuesday at Fair Grounds in the $50,000 Tiffany Lass Stakes.

“Now we can think about taking on the big girls,” trainer Mark Casse said.

Valadorna finished second in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, but her early-season 3-year-old campaign did not go far, with Valadorna going to the sidelines in early spring and only returning to action in October at Keeneland. She finished second in that comeback start, but then won a Fair Grounds allowance race and was 3 1/2 lengths best in the Tiffany Lass. Her one mile and 70-yard time of 1:42.11 produced a career-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure.

“She was coming back a little quick, but that never worries me much,” Casse said. “She did everything professionally. The nice part now is I think her confidence is up.”

Fair Grounds lacks a two-turn dirt stakes for upper-division older females, and there basically are two paths Casse and owner Stonestreet Stables could take with Valadorna: Go to the Grade 2, $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic on Jan. 29 with an eye on the Grade 1 Apple Blossom in April at Oaklawn, or look to California, where Santa Anita has a strong divisional series culminating with the Grade 1 Santa Margarita on March 17.

“We’ll leave all options open for now,” Casse said.