On Wednesday, the long and the short of it

LEXINGTON, Ky. – An affinity for specialized distances will come into play on Keeneland’s Wednesday card, as a pair of turf allowance races for fillies and mares – one a marathon, the other a sprint – anchor the action.

Santa Monica is making her first start in the United States in the fifth race, a $78,000 allowance at 1 1/2 miles on the turf. Trained by Chad Brown, Santa Monica has been away from the races since November and has not won since June 2017, when she took the Group 3 Munster Oaks in Ireland at 1 1/2 miles. She is the only one in this field to have won at the distance. Santa Monica, who faced the likes of Goldrush, Johannes Vermeer, Nezwaah, and War Decree while going winless over the rest of 2017, also owns two group stakes placings in 2016.

Downton Kitten is dropping back into allowance company off a 12th in the Via Borghese Stakes last December at Gulfstream. Her most recent victory came in an allowance going 1 5/16 miles last September at Kentucky Downs.

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Jose Ortiz will be aboard Santa Monica, while Julien Leparoux has the call on Downton Kitten, who is trained by Eduardo Caramori.

In the seventh race, fillies and mares sprint 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf in a $76,000 allowance. Black Canary’s only win came at the 5 1/2-furlong distance, albeit in September 2016 in her debut. She finished seventh in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes at Woodbine later that month, and in her only start since, she hit the gate and finished fourth (moved up to third by disqualification) in a Woodbine allowance last summer. Florent Geroux will be in the irons Wednesday.

Majestic Mist is making her first start for trainer Marvin Johnson as she steps up out of the claiming ranks. She has won 3 of 5 starts at this distance. She switches riders from Albin Jimenez to Robby Albarado.

In other action on Wednesday’s card:

◗ Early-season 2-year-old action continues with the third race, a $60,000 maiden special weight. Wesley Ward, a perennial leader in the category at Keeneland, has Wonder Stone in the main body of the field and Strike Play as an also-eligible. Wonder Stone, a homebred for the international Don Alberto outfit, is by Super Saver and from the immediate family of several graded stakes winners, including Grade 1 winner Bordonaro.

◗ The sixth race is a $74,000 maiden special weight for fillies and mares going six furlongs. Brassy and Sassy comes off a 12th after hitting the gate in October at Churchill Downs, but before that she ran second in a Keeneland maiden special weight. The second- and third-place finisher in the Churchill Downs race – Red Ruby and She’s a Gypsy – were both next-out winners. The winner, Go Google Yourself, won an allowance last Friday at Keeneland. Red Ruby is a Kentucky Oaks hopeful after winning the Martha Washington Stakes earlier this year.

◗ Keeneland has a pick six carryover of $6,214 into this week of racing.