Pair of Chad Brown Trainees Take Aim in Athena

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will saddle a pair of top contenders in Kalifornia Queen  and Love And Thunder  in the Sept. 24 $175,000 Athena (G3T), a 1 1/8-mile inner turf test for fillies and mares at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet.

Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, and First Row Partners' Kalifornia Queen, a 5-year-old German-bred daughter of Lope de Vega , will make her first appearance since a close third-place finish in October 2021 in the E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine Racetrack.

A group 2 winner in Germany for her former conditioner Hank Grewe, Kalifornia Queen made six starts last year in her initial season for Brown, posting a record of 1-1-2 and hitting the board with a second in the WinStar Matchmaker Stakes (G3T) at Monmouth Park and third in the Ballston Spa (G2T) at Saratoga Race Course.

She has trained extensively over the Belmont Park dirt training track for her return, including a half-mile breeze in :49.34 on Sept. 18.

John Gunther and Tanya Gunther's Love And Thunder, a 5-year-old Irish-bred daughter of Siyouni , finished third as the mutuel favorite last out in the restricted Fasig-Tipton De La Rose Aug. 7 at Saratoga. The multiple stakes-placed bay also finished third in last year's Autumn Days at Aqueduct Racetrack and the Perfect Sting at Belmont in July.

Manny Franco will pilot 6-5 morning-line favorite Kalifornia Queen from post 5, while Jose Ortiz has the call on 5-2 Love And Thunder from post 3.

Matthew Schera's Tass , a 6-year-old daughter of Temple City  , enters from a nose score in the restricted Nellie Mae Cox on Sept. 7 at Colonial Downs for trainer Carlos Martin.

Tass, a six-time winner from 21 starts, finished sixth in a Saratoga allowance optional claimer July 27 ahead of her Colonial score.

Martin said it's worth bringing the mare back on short rest with graded black type on the line. A winner of two of four starts on the Aqueduct turf, she is 12-1 on the morning line.

"She likes the course and the distance. I decided to take a shot," Martin said. "When they're doing good you have to run them, and she's doing great."

Jose Lezcano will pilot Tass from post 4.

Stuart Janney's Kentucky-homebred In a Hurry  enters from a gate-to-wire score in the 1 1/8-mile All Along Staeks Sept. 10 over firm going at Pimlico Race Course.

Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, the 5-year-old Blame mare earned graded black type with third-place finishes in the  Suwanee River Stakes (G3T) in December at Gulfstream Park and the Gallorette Stakes (G3T) in May at Pimlico.

Rounding out the field for turf is Robert Amendola's Evvie Jets , who makes her stakes debut for trainer Mertkan Kantarmaci. The 4-year-old Twirling Candy   bay boasts a record of 3-4-2 in 14 starts, including a victory in a turf allowance mile in November at the Big A.

W W Fitzy is entered for the main track only.