Sconsin, Frank's Rockette Square Off in Winning Colors

Rallying to pull within a length of frontrunning Gamine  in midstretch of the Derby City Distaff Stakes Presented by Kendall-Jackson Winery (G1), Sconsin  gave the last year's champion female sprinter a scare before Gamine repelled her by a length and a half.

An 11-1 outsider when second in the Derby City Distaff, Lloyd Madison Farms IV's Sconsin now is in a contrasting role in the $150,000 Winning Colors Stakes (G3) May 22 at Churchill Downs—this time at a relatively short price. She is likely to vie for favoritism with Frank's Rockette  when they face four other foes in the six-furlong dash for older fillies and mares.

The Winning Colors is the fifth race at 7:57 p.m. ET Saturday during a special nighttime program that begins at 6 p.m.

Sconsin is 2-for-4 locally, with one of those two defeats delivered by Gamine, who had the advantage of setting comfortable early fractions of :23.15 and :46.08 in the seven-furlong Derby City. Gamine carried top weight of 123 pounds, five more than Sconsin.

"She's as good as there is—she's the best filly (sprinter) in the country," Sconsin's trainer, Greg Foley, said of Gamine. "I was proud of our filly. She's really a nice filly."

Sconsin, a 4-year-old daughter of Include  , has always been a big-day performer. Last September on the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) undercard, she won the Eight Belles Stakes Presented by Twinspires.com (G2). She followed that with a fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) at Keeneland, where Gamine also defeated her.

Only once in 11 starts has Sconsin not finished fourth or better, finishing seventh in the Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland April 3 when kicking off her 4-year-old campaign.

Foley suggested she could pursue another top-level stakes race this summer, perhaps in a race such as the Ballerina Handicap (G1) Aug. 28 at Saratoga Race Course.

"We have her mother and her. So breeding wise it means a lot if we could knock a grade 1 out," Foley said of the filly bred by Lloyd Madison Farms.

She isn't alone in coming into Winning Colors with an existing grade 1 placing. Frank's Rockette was twice grade 1-placed as a juvenile in 2019 when second in the Spinaway Stakes (G1) and Frizette Stakes (G1) in New York in 2019.

Since her juvenile season, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has focused the Frank Fletcher Racing Operations-owned filly in races from 6 to 6 1/2 furlongs. She won four stakes last year at 3, including a pair of grade 2s, and this year recorded a win and a runner-up finish in a pair of ungraded stakes at Oaklawn Park.

Bumped at the start of her last race, the April 10 Carousel Stakes, she was farther off the pace than usual and came from the rear half of the pack to finish three-quarters of a length behind victorious Edgeway . Frank's Rockette spotted the winner five pounds as the 124- pound high weight.

The speedy Into Mischief   filly, 2-for-2 at Churchill, has only been out of the exacta once in 13 starts when 11th against males in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) last fall at Keeneland.

Rising Seas , Tipsy Gal , Bayerness , and Headland  complete the lineup.

All starters in the Winning Colors carry 118 pounds.

Entries: Winning Colors S. (G3)

Churchill Downs, Saturday, May 22, 2021, Race 5

• Grade III
• 6f
• Dirt
• $150,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 7:57 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Rising Seas (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	118	Ben Colebrook	10/1
2	2Frank's Rockette (KY)	Florent Geroux	118	William I. Mott	6/5
3	3Tipsy Gal (KY)	Colby J. Hernandez	118	Dallas Stewart	15/1
4	4Sconsin (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	118	Gregory D. Foley	8/5
5	5Bayerness (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	118	Cherie DeVaux	5/1
6	6Headland (KY)	Martin Garcia	118	Steve Hobby	8/1