Miss Preakness Lures Fillies From Hither and Yon
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Photo: Coady Photography
Abrogate (inside) wins the Purple Martin Stakes over Joyful Cadence at Oaklawn Park
A field of nine 3-year-old filly sprinters coming from around the eastern half of the country is lined up for the $150,000 Miss Preakness Stakes (G3) May 14 at Pimlico Race Course.
Five of the speedy types invade from other jurisdictions with their last races geographically spread from Oaklawn Park to Churchill Downs and Keeneland.
Abrogate and Joyful Cadence hit the land of crab cakes and Natty Boh beer after finishing first and second, respectively, in the listed Purple Martin Stakes at Oaklawn April 3. Abrogate, an Outwork filly trained by Steve Asmussen, went on to finish fifth in the Eight Belles Stakes Presented by Smithfield (G2) April 30 at Churchill Downs and is the Miss Preakness highweight at 122 pounds. Meanwhile, Joyful Cadence, a daughter of Runhappy , has been idle since the Arkansas tilt.
Wesley Ward brings Red Ghost from Lexington for her fourth career start. The Ghostzapper filly is 2-for-2 on the dirt, both wins by comfortable margins, bookending a seventh-place finish on the Kentucky Downs turf in the Untapable Stakes Sept. 15.
A good slice of the apparent early speed, though, comes from locals. Chief among those is Street Lute , a Street Magician filly who has terrorized the circuit since her debut last September at Delaware Park. The John Robb trainee has won seven of her nine starts, including five stakes over the Laurel Park main track. She couldn't last the one mile of her last start, fading to finish third, but returns to the familiar six furlongs for this.
Paradise Song , a Frosted filly, has improved steadily through her last three starts for trainer Mike Trombetta and exits a 5 1/4-length win in her last start. She steps into stakes company for the first time. Prodigy Doll , a Shanghai Bobby filly trained by Ben Colebrook, journeyed to Mahoning Valley Race Course for her last start and won the Cheryl S. White Memorial Stakes by eight lengths.
The rest of the field has questions to answer.
Euphoric , another by Frosted, took seven tries to find the winner's circle for trainer Bernie Flint, then immediately won her next start at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Heading north, she was thumped in the Eight Belles, finishing 10th.
Inject , yet another Frosted filly, won a well-funded conditioned allowance affair at Keeneland in her last start but that was just her second victory. She was next-last in the Pocahontas Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs last September in her only previous stakes try.
Pimlico Race Course, Friday, May 14, 2021, Race 10Entries: Miss Preakness S. (G3)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Abrogate (KY)
Ricardo Santana, Jr.
122
Steven M. Asmussen
7/2
2
2Red Ghost (KY)
John R. Velazquez
120
Wesley A. Ward
5/1
3
3Juror Number Four (MD)
Sheldon Russell
120
Brittany T. Russell
20/1
4
4Paradise Song (KY)
Julian Pimentel
120
Michael J. Trombetta
10/1
5
5Street Lute (MD)
Xavier Perez
120
John J. Robb
9/2
6
6Prodigy Doll (KY)
Luis Saez
120
Ben Colebrook
20/1
7
7Inject (KY)
Florent Geroux
120
Brad H. Cox
6/1
8
8Euphoric (NY)
Javier Castellano
120
Bernard S. Flint
6/1
9
9Joyful Cadence (KY)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
120
John Alexander Ortiz
4/1
