Unbeaten Alms Returns in Shantel Lanerie Memorial
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Alms wins the Jimmy Durante Stakes at Del Mar
Godolphin's Alms will put her 3-for-3 record on the line as she faces six other 3-year-old fillies as the 6-5 morning-line favorite in the $60,000 Shantel Lanerie Memorial Overnight Stakes to be run over the "about" one-mile turf distance Feb. 8 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
An impressive debut winner sprinting on the Belmont Park turf for trainer Mike Stidham in September, the daughter of City Zip followed with consecutive graded stakes wins: the Matron Stakes (G3T) at Belmont and her two-turn debut in the Jimmy Durante Stakes (G3T) at Del Mar, a race in which she defeated 10 rivals.
Video: Jimmy Durante S. (G3T)
"We wanted to give her a little of a freshening after that win," Stidham said. "Being here at Fair Grounds with this turf course, we felt like this would be a good spot to get her 3-year-old campaign kicked off. As long as she comes out of this race well, we'll look to point her to the Florida Oaks (G3T) at Tampa (March 7). The timing was good with this race, and we're looking forward to getting her started again. She's trained well, and I expect a good run Saturday."
Alms, who has been working at Fair Grounds for over a month, posted a bullet five-furlong workout in 1:00 Feb. 1.
"She's a very willing filly in the morning," Stidham said. "We work her in company where she sits off another horse, and she finishes well. She's very straightforward and does anything you ask of her. That's the way she's always been, and we've had high hopes for her since early on."
Regularly based in Florida, Paco Lopez will travel to Fair Grounds for the mount. The pair will break from post 5.
Among the others Alms is set to face is Silverton Hill's Pass the Plate. Following a maiden-breaking score at second asking on the Keeneland green for trainer Paul McGee in October, the daughter of Temple City closed with a rush to defeat a first-level allowance crew on the Churchill Downs turf course the following month.
Switched over to dirt for the first time in the Jan. 18 Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds, Pass the Plate failed to pass the test, finishing a non-threatening sixth. The 5-1 morning-line shot will break from post 4 Saturday under jockey Corey Lanerie, the husband of the late Shantel Lanerie, for whom the race is named.
The Shantel Lanerie Breast Cancer Foundation fundraiser, which aids cancer patients, will be held Feb. 29.
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, Saturday, February 08, 2020, Race 6Entries: Shantel Lanerie Memorial Overnight S.
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Maga Suite (KY)
Robby Albarado
118
Tracey Glover
20/1
2
2American Legend (KY)
Mitchell Murrill
118
Bernard S. Flint
12/1
3
3Lady Jenneviere (KY)
Edgar Morales
118
Brad H. Cox
12/1
4
4Pass the Plate (KY)
Corey J. Lanerie
120
Paul J. McGee
5/1
5
5Alms (KY)
Paco Lopez
122
Michael Stidham
6/5
6
6Dominga (KY)
Shaun Bridgmohan
118
Brad H. Cox
4/1
7
7Trickle In (KY)
Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.
118
Michael Stidham
7/2
