Paige Stretching Out in Dowager Stakes

If you are the company you keep, Cheyenne Stables' and Jim Wells' 4-year-old filly Paige should consider herself in very good stead.

Having finished behind recent grade I winner Al's Gal in the Sept. 15 Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon Stakes, Paige will attempt to earn the first graded stakes victory of her career when she heads up a field of 13 in the Oct. 23 Rood & Riddle Dowager Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Keeneland.

Paige comes into the Dowager off an eventful trip in the 1 5/16-mile Ladies Marathon, where she had to check several times, but ran on to get runner-up honors behind Al's Gal, who came back to win the Oct. 16 E. P. Taylor Stakes (Can-IT) at Woodbine.

The fact Paige handled the step up in distance prompted her presence in the 1 1/2-mile Dowager and she has continued to progress on turf for trainer Christophe Clement after beginning her career on the main track.

As a 2-year-old, the chestnut filly finished third in the 2014 Darley Alcibiades Stakes (gr. I) at Keeneland and recently earned her first win on the grass when she captured an Aug. 7 allowance race at Suffolk Downs.

In addition to Paige, Clement is also set to saddle stakes winner Notte d'Oro in the Dowager.

Oakley Girl finished third in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon and the Dowager represents her second start in North America since being purchased by owner and trainer Brendan Walsh. Oakley Girl is from the family of three-time European champion stayer Kahf Tara and should enjoy the ground provided by the recent spate of wet weather in Kentucky.

"I got her three weeks before she ran at Kentucky Downs," Walsh said. "I have a friend in Ireland who spotted her, and I am always on the lookout for something. She's got a good pedigree."

John Sadler trainee Elektrum is set to have her first race outside of California since arriving on the West Coast after making her first 10 starts in France. The 5-year-old daughter of High Chaparral is seeking her first win in eight starts since taking the John C. Mabee Stakes (gr. IIT) in 2015 and heads into the Dowager off an eighth-place finish in the Oct. 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes (gr. IT).