Loaded Field of Graded Winners in Madison

There will be few graded stakes during the 16-day Keeneland Racecourse meet that will draw as tough of a field as the April 9 $300,000 Madison Stakes (gr. I) for older fillies and mares sprinting seven furlongs.

Included in the 13-horse field for the ninth race on the card highlighted by the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I) are Stopchargingmaria and Wavell Avenue, winners of Breeders' Cup races last Oct. 30 at Keeneland, multiple grade I winner Sheer Drama, and Birdatthewire and Cavorting, the respective first- and third-place finishers in the La Brea Stakes (gr. I).

Stopchargingmaria, the three-time grade I winner who was purchased privately by Town and Country Racing after the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall mixed sale, is making her first start since her thrilling victory in the $2 million Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) in which she held off Stellar Wind by a neck and withstood a foul claim.

The Tale of the Cat   mare who has won nine of 16 starts and earned more than $2.9 million for trainer Todd Pletcher, will be seeking to improve off her second-place finish to Princess Violet in last year's Madison. Javier Castellano returns in the saddle on the 5-year-old who recorded two bullet works, the most recent on April 1, at Palm Beach Downs training center.

Wavell Avenue, who along with Birdatthewire will shoulder top weight of 123 pounds, is also making her first start since last year's world championships in which she split horses for a game 1 3/4-length triumph over La Verdad in the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (gr. I). Trained by Chad Brown, Wavell Avenue just missed being voted champion female sprinter, with that year-end honor going to La Verdad.

The 5-year-old Ontario-bred daughter of Harlington  , who has six wins and three placings from 13 starts, gets the services of jockey Julien R. Leparoux for the first time in the Madison.

Birdatthewire, then trained by Dale Romans, closed out her 2015 season with a strong rally to win the seven-furlong La Brea, catching Hot City Girl in deep stretch to earn her first grade I victory. Transferred to Tom Proctor for 2016, the Summer Bird filly has finished second in the La Canada and fifth in the Santa Maria Stakes, both grade II at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita Park.

The 4-year-old filly should relish the return to seven furlongs, a distance at which she is two-for-two.

Sheer Drama, Harold Queen's multiple grade I-winning homebred, has been working steadily toward her 2016 debut in the Madison. The 6-year-old Burning Roma mare trained by David Fawkes finished fourth from post 14, beaten 4 1/2 lengths in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) Oct. 30.

 

The mare was first or second in seven of eight starts last year, including wins in the Personal Ensign (gr. I), Delaware Handicap (gr. I), and Royal Delta (gr. II) with earnings of $1,234,720.



Godolphin Racing's Dancing House is coming off her first graded victory in the Feb. 13 Barbara Fritchie Stakes (gr. II) at Laurel Park in which she tracked early leader Hot City Girl and then out-dueled Lady Sabelia in the stretch to defeat Clothes Fall Off by 1 1/2 lengths.

Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, the 5-year-old Tapit   mare has a 5-2-3 resume in 11 starts.

Clothes Fall Off, also trained by McLauglin, has been the model of consistency, finishing first or second in 10 of 11 outings. Racing for Cheyenne Stables, Southern Equine Stable, and Gatewood Bell, the 4-year-old Daaher   filly scored her first stakes win in the March 19 Corrrection Handicap at Laurel Park.

Shipping in from California is Nicholas B. Alexander's California homebred Sunday Rules, the winner of eight of nine in her career. The 5-year-old Tribal Rules filly is riding a three-race win streak highlighted by the $150,000 California Cup Sprint.