Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Spirit Wind, off a career-high Beyer, may go to Charles Town
Spirit Wind is under serious consideration for the $500,000 Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon Stakes at Charles Town following her standout victory in the $100,000 Memorial Day Sprint at Lone Star Park.
Spirit Wind breezed home by 3 1/2 lengths on Monday and covered six furlongs in a sharp 1:09.37. Spirit Wind was assigned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 99.
“She ran big,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “I think six, six and a half furlongs is probably her best distance.”
Spirit Wind is a quick mare and won from just off the pace under Mike Smith. A probable summer goal is the sevenfurlong Pink Ribbon, Joseph said.
“We kind of like the configuration for it,” said Joseph. “I know it’s seven, but it suits speed and the two turns. So, it kind of would suit her style.
“We’re probably going to go there. I don’t know if we would do something before that. We haven’t decided just yet.”
The Pink Ribbon for fillies and mares will be run over Charles Town’s six-furlong oval Aug. 23.
Spirit Wind was to return to Kentucky after the Lone Star win and likely will be based this summer at Saratoga, Joseph said.
Smith was riding for Joseph for the first time ever in the Memorial Day Sprint. Smith and Joseph, who are based on opposite coasts, were in Texas on Monday for the annual Lone Star Million Day. Smith also won the $300,000 Texas Derby with E J Won the Cup for trainer Doug O’Neill.
Joseph was pleased with the opportunity to team with Smith.
“He’s a Hall of Famer. I grew up watching him,” Joseph said. “It’s always been a dream of mine to have him ride a winner for me. I was glad we were able to accomplish it.”
Joseph is the current leading trainer at Gulfstream Park.
Texas turf trend
Kentucky-based trainer Mike Maker won his 27th stakes race over a Texas turf course Monday with Dana’s Beauty in the $200,000 Ouija Board Distaff at Lone Star Park.
Maker’s outstanding record includes 17 turf stakes victories at Sam Houston Race Park, where he has won eight runnings of the Grade 3 John B. Connally Turf Cup. Maker also has won six turf stakes at Retama Park.
Dana’s Beauty became his fourth turf stakes winner at Lone Star, where she tracked pacesetter Libban in second before securing a head win under Ramon Vazquez.
“She sat off the leader and finished up nicely,” Maker said.
Dana’s Beauty won the onemile race in 1:35.44 and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 87. Plans for her next start are to be determined, according to Maker.
“It’s too early to say, but we might come back down at the end of June, try it again,” he said of the $125,000 Wasted Tears.
The 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares is June 29 at Lone Star.
The Wasted Tears is on a card of four turf stakes led by the $250,000 Texas Turf Classic, which Maker won in both 2022 and 2023. He said Chasing the Crown is under consideration for this year’s renewal of the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds and up.
Chasing the Crown last ran May 9 and won a three-otherthan allowance at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Churchill Downs. He broke from the 10-hole, stalked the pace, and earned a Beyer of 94.
As for the Wasted Tears, it also could draw Ouija Board runner-up Libban.
“She might go back for the race in Dallas,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “We were talking about that with the owners.”
Libban was making her turf debut Monday and earned a career-high Beyer of 87.
Lone Star’s card of turf stakes also will include a pair of turf sprints, with the $125,000 Chicken Fried Stakes for fillies and mares a possible option for Ova Charged, according to her trainer, Shane Wilson. Ova Charged owns the year’s best Beyer Speed Figure, a 113 for a turf sprint win at Fair Grounds.
Rare air for Free Like a Girl
Free Like a Girl, who placed in back-to-back Grade 1 races this spring, now ranks third among all accredited Louisiana-breds in earnings and could make a serious move up the charts next month.
Trainer Chasey DevillePomier said Wednesday that Free Like a Girl could make her next start in the Grade 2, $500,000 Fleur de Lis on June 29 at Churchill Downs. The mare made her last start at the Kentucky track and was second in the La Troienne won by returning champion Idiomatic.
“I could have not have asked for any better,” Deville-Pomier said of the performance from Free Like a Girl. “We knew it was tough going into it. We were just hoping to catch a break being other mares were coming off a layoff.
“We’re definitely proud of her.”
The effort pushed Free Like a Girl’s earnings to $1,618,478. She now trails just all-time leader Star Guitar, who earned $1,749,862 in his career, and Happy Ticket, who retired with a bankroll of $1,688,838. The standings are posted on the website of the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association.
Free Like a Girl is based at Evangeline Downs. She had a few weeks off after the La Troienne, Deville-Pomier said.
“She’s training good,” she said. “There’s been talk of the Fleur de Lis, but nothing’s definite yet. But I think we’re making plans for that.”
Deville-Pomier said Free Like a Girl could race at Saratoga later this year. Back in April, she was third to Adare Manor in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn.
Options for Frosted Grace
The next move is yet to be determined for millionaire Frosted Grace, who was third by three-quarters of length in the Grade 3, $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile on Monday at Lone Star Park.
Trainer Mike Maker said an option is the $100,000 Michael G. Schaefer Memorial at Horseshoe Indianapolis. The mile and 70-yard race is July 6.
“That’s a possibility, but it’s still too early to say,” Maker said.
Frosted Grace won the Grade 3 Oaklawn Mile in April.
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