Marquee Miss, Nickname Meet Again in Honeybee

One start after Marquee Miss upset grade I winner Nickname to win the Martha Washington Stakes last month at Oaklawn Park, the two talented 3-year-old fillies are set for an Oaklawn rematch March 12 in the Honeybee Stakes (gr. III).

Rags Racing Stable’s Marquee Miss has enjoyed a strong start to her 3-year-old season as the daughter of Cowboy Cal   opened 2016 with a front-running, clear victory in the Dixie Belle Stakes Jan. 15 at Oaklawn before rallying past 1-2 favorite Nickname in the Feb. 6 Martha Washington to win that one-mile race by a half-length.

NOVAK: Marquee Miss Edges Nickname at Oaklawn

Trained by Ingrid Mason, Marquee Miss showed talent from the start, as she won the Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes in her debut last season. But she followed with off-the-board finishes in the Alcibiades Stakes (gr. I) at Keeneland, and allowance-level races at Keeneland and Churchill Downs before bouncing back this season at Oaklawn.

While Marquee Miss will try to extend her win streak, Nickname will attempt to end a bit of a skid, not that the daughter of Scat Daddy   is far off her game. After winning last year’s Frizette Stakes (gr. I) at Belmont Park, LNJ Foxwoods’ Nickname closed her juvenile season with a fourth in the 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) at Keeneland before opening this year with the close second in the Martha Washington.

MITCHELL: Nickname Wins Frizette Driving in the Slop

Trained by Steve Asmussen, Nickname has registered four works since the Martha Washington—two breezes at four furlongs, one at five furlongs, and one at six furlongs—to prepare for Saturday’s race, which will award qualifying points to the Longines Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) on a 50-20-10-5 schedule.

Four other sophomore fillies are set for Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile test, including two who will be making their stakes debuts off impressive allowance wins. Asmussen will send out Stonestreet Stables’ Terra Promessa, who registered a nine-length score in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race Feb. 5 at Oaklawn. Trainer Kelly Gorder will saddle William Helwig’s She's a Bootsy Too, who improved to two-for-two after a clear victory in a six-furlong allowance/optional claiming race Feb. 26 at Oaklawn.

The field also includes stakes winner Cosmic Evolution, who enters off a clear victory in an allowance at Oaklawn to open her season, and Dorodansa, who finished third in the Martha Washington.