Life Talk Commands Attention in Demoiselle

After chasing likely champion Just F Y I  in her last two starts—finishing third behind her in the Oct. 7 Frizette Stakes (G1) and fourth in the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1)—Life Talk  faces easier in the $250,000 Demoiselle Stakes (G1) Dec. 2 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

A 2-year-old daughter of Gun Runner   owned by Repole Stables, Life Talk faces eight other juvenile fillies in the 1 1/8-mile race, with the opposition led by last-out maiden graduates Dolomite  and Most of All , plus stakes winners Ringy Dingy , Shimmering Allure  and Caldwell Luvs Gold . Life Talk is one of the few entrants with two-turn experience, having run evenly to lose by 3 1/2 lengths when wide in the 1 1/16-mile Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita Park.

A start earlier in the slop in the one-turn, one-mile Frizette during the Belmont at the Big A meet, the Todd Pletcher-trained filly lost by a slightly larger margin of 4 1/4 lengths.

Irad Ortiz Jr.—aboard for all four of her starts, including a win a runner-up finish in two maiden races at Saratoga Race Course over the summer—is in the irons.

A $335,000 purchase by her owner at the 2022 September Yearling Sale from the St. George Sales consignment, she has race-best earnings of $226,750.

Shimmering Allure a LEading Threat

Shimmering Allure has raced once around two turns at 1 1/16 miles, finishing fourth in the Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland in her fifth career start. Trainer Kenny McPeek then sent her to New York, where she won the Tempted Stakes by three lengths over Demoiselle starter Vino Rouge  over a one-turn mile at Aqueduct. Her maiden win also came over that trip at Churchill Downs.

"She has been breezing at Belmont, and she's in a nice routine," McPeek said. "I like the way her last one set up. She's been pretty versatile at this point. She's run shorter, longer and handled two turns. She's handled just about everything we've thrown at her.

"The Demoiselle, at a mile and an eighth, the pace of the race will be interesting, but she's clicking away and doing well."

The daughter of Enticed   is 2-2-0 in six races with earnings of $189,095 for owner Walking L Thoroughbreds. Junior Alvarado rides the late-running filly.

Other Contenders

• Harold Lerner's Vino Rouge, trained by Tony Dutrow, adds blinkers for the Demoiselle. She is one of the likely frontrunners.
• Dolomite, Most of All and Ringy Dingy come off flashy victories and rise in class.
• Ringy Dingy, a daughter of Dialed In  , won the Oct. 13 White Clay Creek Stakes at Delaware Park for owners Peter Callahan and Reiley McDonald.
• "Going down the backside she was really last, and I thought this was not going to end well," Ringy Dingy's trainer Danny Gargan said. "But she kicked it in and came home really nicely. I don't know how much she beat that day, but she looked like she'd run all day."
• Out of the multiple stakes-placed Touch Gold  mare Wind Caper , Ringy Dingy is a full sister to dual grade 1 winner Defunded .
• Exiting New York-bred company is Dicke Racing's Seeking the Ante Stakes winner Caldwell Luvs Gold, who has hit the board in all four of her races. After beginning her career 2-for-2, she ran second in the Sept. 24 Joseph A. Gimma Stakes and third in the Oct. 29 Maid of the Mist Stakes for trainer Brad Cox.