Top Four From Valley View Return in Mrs. Revere

A week after Keeneland hosted the Breeders' Cup, Kentucky racing remains in the graded stakes spotlight Nov. 14, though on a smaller scale.

Churchill Downs stages the one graded stakes in North America on Saturday: the $200,000 Mrs. Revere Stakes (G2T). The 1 1/16-mile race, one of the last major turf stakes for sophomore fillies this year, drew seven entrants, including the top four finishers from last month's Pin Oak Valley View Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland and stakes-winning and grade 2-placed filly Hendy Woods.

Topping the entries is Valley View winner Stunning Sky. A daughter of Declaration at War, she has earned $284,075 this year by compiling a 2-2-1 record in nine starts, highlighted by a half-length victory under Ricardo Santana Jr. in the Valley View.

A $50,000 claim by trainer Mike Maker for Peter Proscia's Paradise Farms in December, Stunning Sky has steadily moved up the ranks. She narrowly missed in a couple of prestigious stakes this summer at Saratoga Race Course before breaking through in the Valley View.

Parkland Thoroughbreds, her owner in two starts last year with trainer Jorge Abreu before Maker's claim, began partnering with Paradise Farms in ownership after she won an allowance-level race at Gulfstream Park in January.

Maker credits Proscia for the claim of the filly, saying Proscia liked her pedigree and her speed figures from a debut in which she was sixth at Aqueduct Racetrack in November 2019.

Maker said his trainee is showing him the right signals into Saturday's race and seems ready for the four-week turnaround from the Valley View.

"She's a giant filly—travels and carries her weight well," he said.

Santana, who teamed with Maker to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Presented by Coolmore America (G1T) with Fire At Will, returns in the irons.

"I'm looking to get in one of the last few opportunities for a 3-year-old (filly) this year and maybe back up on her after this race," Maker said. "She's had a hard campaign and deserves it."

Lightly raced and eligible to improve is Valley View runner-up Princess Grace. A winner of her first two starts in the Mid-Atlantic, she stepped up into a stakes race for the first time in the Valley View and just missed. Fifth for the first three-quarters of the race, she took command in midstretch before being outkicked by Stunning Sky.

Also needed to close a gap are third-place How Ironic and fourth-place Witez, both of whom made up ground late to earn slices of the Valley View purse.

Of those not exiting the Valley View, stakes-winning Hendy Woods is a capable prospect, dropping in class after a sixth-place finish in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes Presented by Dixiana (G1T). That followed a runner-up finish behind Sharing in the Edgewood Stakes Presented by Forcht Bank (G2T) at Churchill Downs for trainer Mark Casse.

"She can be a bit of a difficult horse to ride at times but has a lot of talent," said Casse assistant David Carroll said. "I think with only seven in the Mrs. Revere, and not a lot of pace, it'll be interesting to see how things play out early."

The field is completed by Positive Danger and Pass the Plate, both of whom come off recent allowance-level victories.

Entries: Mrs. Revere S. (G2T)

Churchill Downs, Saturday, November 14, 2020, Race 10

• Grade IIT
• 1 1/16m
• Turf
• $200,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 5:36 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Hendy Woods (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	118	Mark E. Casse	3/1
2	2Positive Danger (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	118	Anthony J. Granitz	15/1
3	3Stunning Sky (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	118	Michael J. Maker	5/2
4	4Princess Grace (KY)	Florent Geroux	118	Michael Stidham	3/1
5	5How Ironic (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	118	Victoria H. Oliver	4/1
6	6Pass the Plate (KY)	Joseph Talamo	118	Paul J. McGee	8/1
7	7Witez (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	118	Ian R. Wilkes	8/1