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She’sonthewarpath Holds Off Dominga To Take Ellis Park Turf

She'sonthewarpath was. And the result was a neck victory over favored Dominga in Sunday's $75,000 Ellis Park Turf at the RUNHAPPY Meet at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky.

Trainer by Steve Margolis for Robert and Lawana Low, She'sonthewarpath closed from mid-pack to win three stakes last year. However, facing a field devoid of natural front-runners in the field of six fillies and mares, jockey Adam Beschizza didn't wait on anyone else to do the dirty work for She'sonthewarpath.

Beschizza sent the 5-year-old mare to the initial lead out of the gate from her outside post, before letting her settle just off of the Brad Cox-trained Dominga, who broke on the rail under Shaun Bridgmohan.

Dominga loped through a crawling early pace, but Beschizza kept She'sonthewarpath within pouncing position and went after the favorite heading into the far turn.

“I told Adam, 'Bridgmohan is on a nice filly for Brad. Just don't let her steal it. Keep her in your sights,'” Margolis said. “You let a horse like that get loose, it's going to be tough to catch her.”

Rounding into the stretch, She'sonthewarpath wrested a narrow lead in a bunched-up field and had a length advantage with an eighth of a mile to go. Dominga wasn't finished and tried to come back on the rail only to fall a couple of feet short.

“We know she's pretty fast,” Beschizza said. “She ran at 5 1/2 furlongs at Churchill Downs this year, so we know she's got speed. We know she can rate. She's probably one of those that can turn it off and turn it on. You just have to be a little bit more aggressive with her out of the gate. She seemed to get a nice perch going around there. We know she's got the ability and the engine, and that turn of gear.

“We were in prime position, and as soon as I pulled the trigger, she delivered. She's got that turn of gear that can sort of put horses into shock mode as soon as we turn into the stretch. We took Brad Cox's horse in there seriously. We knew she was going to go to the lead. The field size was small and sometimes when they get an easy ride on the front end, it can get a bit tactical. It doesn't usually go to plan like that. But super-pleased for Steve. He's done a great job with her, and she's a real barn favorite.”

It was another 1 1/4 lengths back to the late-running Pass the Plate, followed by Sister Hanan, High Regard, and Nope. Enjoyitwhilewecan and Alnassem were scratched.

“I got to the spot where I needed to be, and she was comfortable,” Bridgmohan said. “She was game, though. She tried to come back on the other horse. She tried hard.”

Said Paul McGee, trainer of Pass the Plate: “They got away with slow early fractions, so it's hard to close into that. She ran a good race.”

She'sonthewarpath, a daughter of Declaration of War, completed the mile over firm turf in 1:44.07, the last sixteenth-mile going in :05.84 seconds as she picked up the pace throughout. The fractions were :25.43, :50.65, 1:15.65, and 1:38.23.

The bay mare now is 7-2-3 in 18 starts, earning $432,820 for the Lows, who are also her breeders.

In her last start, Beschizza backed out of a potential jam early on and She'sonthewarpath closed to be third in a tough field for Churchill Downs' Grade 3 Mint Julep.

“I probably wasn't aggressive enough as I should have been, getting a position,” he said. “She rated on me going into the first turn and got a little bump. It just took her off of her game. She came with a flying run at the end. She's all heart. But we got her day today.”

She'sonthewarpath ran in last year's $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf, showing speed that day and finishing second. Margolis said that stakes is a logical objective, with the ultimate goal being the $750,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf at Kentucky Downs.

“The Lows are great,” Margolis said. “They always do right by the horses they give me. She's a hard-knocker who always tries. Just grateful to have her. When you have a mare like her, a horse who always tries, you know they're going to always fire. You just hope everything goes right. She's such a classy mare. You ask her to go, like Adam says, she gives you everything she's got.”

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Cox Has Favorites Dominga, Field Day In July 4th Stakes Races At Ellis Park

The RUNHAPPY Meet at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky. kicks off its stakes racing Sunday with the $75,000 Ellis Park Turf for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on grass and the new $50,000 Dade Park Overnight Stakes for 3-year-old turf sprinters.

As often is the case, Brad Cox — the 2020 Eclipse Award-winning trainer who tied with Kenny McPeek for last year's Ellis Park meet title — has the favorite in both races.

Don Alberto Stable's Dominga is the tepid 5-2 favorite in the Ellis Park Turf and will break from the rail under Shaun Bridgmohan. Klein Racing's Field Day is the 6-5 morning-line choice with Brian Hernandez Jr. in the Dade Park's field of seven running 5 1/2 furlongs.

“She's doing well,” Cox said of Dominga. “She's coming off a victory in a (third level) allowance at Churchill and she's a stakes-winner. She's got some pedigree. So we're hoping to add to her value by continuing to compete at the stakes level. She's had a really good year. We gave her a break last summer, and she seems to have moved forward as an older horse.”

Dominga is one of five horses cross-entered in Indiana Grand's Indiana General Assembly Distaff at the same distance on grass. But she drew post 11 for that stakes, with Cox saying he preferred her Ellis post.

The three horses entered only at Ellis — She'sonthewarpath, Pass the Plate and Nope — provide a solid core for an evenly-matched field.

In her three starts this year, 3-1 second choice She'sonthewarpath has faced some of the best turf fillies and mares in the country. In her last start, the 5-year-old mare finished third in Churchill Downs' Grade 3 Mint Julep won by Mintd and with Grade 1 winner Juliet Foxtrot second.

“She ran hard last time,” said Steve Margolis, who is stabled at Ellis Park for the first time since early in his training career 20 years ago. “I think we got a little unlucky. She broke and was in a good spot, and then some horse came over on her a little bit. When they got to the backside, she was last. She wiggled her way and kept going, and pretty much ran a big third. It's three weeks, but if I'd waited, there's another race here but it would have been almost two months between race.”

She'sonthewarpath, who won three stakes last year for owner-breeders Robert and Lawana Low, lost her two starts this year to Brendan Walsh-trained horses: Mintd in the Mint Julep and the 5 1/2-furlong Unbridled Sidney won by the very good turf sprinter Into Mystic. Margolis said he sprinted her just because it was really the only spot to get her back going after a seven-month layoff.

“She ran a good fourth, probably just a little too short,” he said. “Those are specialized horses running that distance. She's hooked some good company and always tries.”

She'sonthewarpath faces another Walsh horse in Nope, who enters the Ellis Park Turf off an impressive first-level allowance victory at Churchill after racing in blinkers for the first time. The Irish-bred daughter of No Nay Never is making her American stakes debut.

“She made a huge improvement the last race with the blinkers on,” Walsh said “I think that was key. Because up to that, she just lacked concentration more than anything, so it really worked the day we put them on. I'm hoping for more of the same.”

Nope concluded her 2-year-old season of 2019 with a fourth place – beaten a total of a half-length — in a Group 3 stakes at Newmarket after racing in Ireland.

“They felt she was a little unlucky in that race, and felt it bode well for her 3-year-old,” said Walsh, who received the filly but was only able to run her once in 2020 before Nope was sidelined 10 months. “She had some time off, but we've been gradually figuring her out. I felt the last race she made a big move forward, so maybe we're getting to her now. Hopefully we have yet to see the best of her.”

Owned by Tommy and Bonnie Hamilton's Silverton Hill Farms of Springfield, Ky., Pass the Plate comes in off a pair of 1 1/2-mile turf stakes, with a third in Keeneland's Grade 3 Bewitch Stakes and a fourth in Churchill Downs' $110,000 Keertana. She ended her 3-year-old season last December 26 with a nose victory in the Fair Grounds' Pago Hop at a mile.

“She ran really well in the Bewitch,” said trainer Paul McGee. “She ran well in the Keertana. That was a really oddly-run race. That's the race that the Al Stall filly (multiple stakes-winner Dalika) went out there in front by about 25 lengths all by her lonesome. And she wound up a good second. My filly, as usual, was out the back. She just doesn't have any speed. But I feel like she ran OK to be fourth. But after the mile-and-a-half races, you almost have to shorten up.”

Pass the Plate (6-1) will be reunited with Joe Talamo, McGee's nephew by marriage who last rode the filly to a second-place finish in last fall's off-the-turf Grade 2 Mrs. Revere at Churchill Downs.

McGee hopes down the road to run in Ellis' $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf. That's an automatic, fees-paid qualifier for the $750,000, Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf, though Pass the Plate could also fit well in the $550,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon at 1 5/16 miles at the Franklin track.

Will Dade Park be another field day for Field Day?

Klein Racing's Field Day, a son of the Pin Oak Stud stallion Broken Vow, has never been worse than third in eight lifetime starts, all sprinting and all but one on turf (and that one came off the grass). In his last two starts, Field Day captured Churchill Downs' William Walker Stakes and followed that with another victory in an open allowance race.

“There aren't a lot of options out there for him,” Cox said. “He breezed on the turf last week and we shipped him down there (to Ellis). He's doing well.”

The fastest horse in the race, based on speed figures, looks like Bob's Choice, the 8-5 second choice. He sports a 3-1-3 record in seven starts, all on dirt.

“He's got two siblings who were turf horses,” said trainer Larry Jones. “So we're going to give it try. He'll go as fast, I think, as we need him to as long as he takes to the surface.”

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Mitchell Road Fends Off Challengers To Win Ellis Park Turf

The $50,000 Ellis Park Turf proved Mitchell Road's path back into the winner's circle as she held off upset-minded Strike My Fancy to triumph by a neck.

The class of the field, Mitchell Road was a Grade 3 winner last year but came into the Ellis Park Turf 0 for 3 in 2020, finishing seventh in Churchill Downs' Grade 3 Mint Julep following a pair of seconds.

“I think we were just looking around for a good spot for her,” said Kenny McCarthy, who oversees the Churchill Downs operation for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. “I mean, she tries hard every time we run her. I think sometimes mentally it's nice for them to win one, when they put forth so much effort. She's been pretty consistent, so it was good to get the win today.”

Mitchell Road was unprepared at the start and broke last but was content to briefly settle behind Harmless, who at 33-1 was the longest shot in the field of six older fillies and mares, before lapping on alongside her rival. Harmless actually stuck her head back in front in midstretch, but Mitchell Road shook her off and then held Strike My Fancy at bay.

“It worked out pretty well,” said Joe Talamo, winning his first stakes at Ellis Park in his first year making Kentucky his base. “The pace was really slow. I just let her gather up her stride and slowly get up there. She got into a really good rhythm down the backside, the whole way around there. Then turning for home, I had a lot of horse. When that other filly came to me, she fought her off pretty nicely. When she got to the lead, I felt like she might have been waiting a little bit, so I was actually happy to see that other filly come to her. I think it made her pay attention a little bit more. Because even galloping out, she was still full of run. I was just thankful for the opportunity. She's a very nice filly.”

Mitchell Road toured 1 1/16 miles over firm turf in 1:43.12, quickening to cover the final sixteenth-mile in 6.10 seconds. The daughter of turf champion English Channel paid $3.60 to win as the 4-5 favorite.

“She's a filly, if you watch her races, she loves a dogfight,” McCarthy said. “It's like she kind of gets there and then is waiting there for that next one to come. I saw the 6 (Strike My Fancy) coming, but I felt she was still going to hold. That's the kind of filly she is.”

The Matt Shirer-trained Strike My Fancy closed with a rush under Colby Hernandez to make a close race out of it.

“My horse ran a big race. She tries every time,” said Hernandez, the younger brother of Kentucky mainstay Brian Hernandez Jr. “She's a very easy horse to ride. She puts you where you need to be in a race. At the sixteenth pole I thought I had a chance at the winner.”

Harmless — claimed for $62,500 in her prior start, and finishing eighth that day — came in another 1 1/4 lengths back in third under Alex Achard, thrilling new trainer Michelle Lovell.

“That was good,” she said. “I thought she may hang in for second. She hung in there for a long time.”

Mintd, who hit the gate at the start, came in fourth. Timeless Curls, who pushed the early pace in her first start in 13 1/2 months, and Our Bay B Ruth founded out the field. Sister Hanan, Makealitlemischief, Mighty Scarlett and Complicit were scratched.

Mitchell Road now has won races at ages 3, 4 and 5, with three stakes victories last year — including Pimlico's Grade 3 Gallorette two weeks after her younger half-brother Country House gave Mott his first victory in the Kentucky Derby. Both horses are out of the War Chant mare Quake Lake. Mitchell Road now is 7-5-0 in 15 starts, earning $501,060 for Mrs. J.V. Shields Jr. and E.J.M. McFadden Jr.

“Any year you can win a stakes is a great year for it,” McCarthy said. “Obviously this is probably her last year of running, so let's look around for her and try to find her some good spots and let her pad her resume.”

A good spot easily could be Ellis Park's $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf on Aug. 2. The winner of that race gets a fees-paid spot in the $500,000, Grade 3 Three Chimneys Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf on Sept. 12, a race Mitchell Road ran second in last year.

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