Friday, October 8, 2010
Contact: NYRA Press Office
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- Field for next Saturday’s Grade 3 Athenia taking shape
- Godolphin’s Sara Louise, Gayego, Vineyard Haven to breeze Sunday with eye towards Breeders’ Cup
- Soldat to prepare for Breeders’ Cup at Belmont; McLaughlin weighs options with Redding Colliery
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer David Donk said Friday that Noble Damsel heroine Strike the Bell would run back in next Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Athenia and would turn in her final work for the race this weekend.
“She breezed a little bit last Sunday [October 3,
Owned by Rising Star Stables, the 4-year-old Mizzen Mast filly is 2-1-0 from five starts this year and collected her first graded stakes win in the Noble Damsel.
Maram, who finished seventh in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa after having finished fifth, beaten less than a length in the Grade 1 Diana, and Quiet Meadow, second as the beaten favorite in the Grade 3 Noble Damsel, are both under consideration for the Athenia, said trainer Chad Brown.
Both fillies will breeze Sunday, after which Brown said he would make a decision.
“We’ll run one of them,” said Brown. “They’re both doing well. I ran Maram back a little quickly in the Ballston Spa, and I kept her up at
Expected to join them for the Athenia are Darjeeling, winner of a one-mile turf allowance at Belmont on September 16 while Eye of Taurus, winner of the Revidere at Monmouth on September 11, will likely head a trio emerging from that race with runner-up Giant Mover and fifth-place finisher Unbridled Essence expected as well. Also probable for the race are Miss Catalyst, Missit, Mary’s Follies, Scolara, and Way With Words. NYRA Stakes Coordinator Andrew Byrnes added that Gitchee Goomie, Miss World and Trix in the City were possible.
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Sara Louise, third in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom in her 2010 debut, will have her first breeze following that effort Sunday as she prepares for a return engagement in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs on November 5.
Fourth in last year’s edition over the artificial surface at Santa Anita, the 4-year-old filly is one of three Godolphin representatives heading from
Vineyard Haven, who won the James Marvin at Saratoga Race Course and was subsequently third in the Grade 1 Forego, could join Gayego in the Dirt Mile as a supplemental entry, said Godolphin assistant Henry Spiller.
“A final decision has not yet been made,” said Spiller. “Sheik Mohammed, Saeed [bin Suroor] and Simon Crisford [Godolphin racing manager] will determine that.”
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Soldat, second in Sunday’s Grade 3 Pilgrim, will depart
Owned by Harvey A. Clarke and W. Craig Robertson, III, Soldat became the first stakes winner for his freshman sire War Front when he won the Grade 3 With Anticipation at
“War Front was a really good looking colt and was a great mover,” said McLaughlin. “He was a beautiful horse. I think Soldat is a nice looking horse, but he’s not as robust. They both have great minds and do everything right.”
McLaughlin added that he has several interesting options in mind for Mrs. Fitriani Hay’s Redding Colliery, winner of the Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup last Saturday.
“The [Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile Handicap at Aqueduct November 27] is a possibility, but we’d need to look over it,” said McLaughlin. “He’s been invited to
Before McLaughlin decides where Redding Colliery will make his next start, the 4-year-old must first get back to
“He’s still in
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