Princess Grace Proves Best In Off-The-Turf Mrs. Revere At Churchill Downs

Princess Grace put away pacesetter Positive Danger around the far turn and opened a clear lead in the stretch to comfortably win Saturday's 30th running of the $200,000 Mrs. Revere (Grade 3) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Pass the Plate closed to within 2 3/4 lengths of the winner to be second.

Owned and bred by Susan and John Moore, Princess Grace ran 1 1/16 miles over a fast track in 1:44.00 to collect her first stakes win. Florent Geroux rode the winner for trainer Mike Stidham.

A traditional turf fixture, this year's Mrs. Revere was transferred to the main track because Churchill Downs' turf course has not satisfactorily responded to this fall's climate. Churchill Downs officials said no turf races would be run through Nov. 22.

Because of the surface switch, the Grade 2 event was automatically downgraded to a Grade 3 by the American Graded Stakes Committee.

Princess Grace, who finished a half-length back of Stunning Sky in last month's $150,000 Valley View (G3) on turf at Keeneland, banked the $122,760 first prize and rewarded her backers with $2 mutuels of $7, $3.40 and $3 as the 5-2 second betting choice in the field of six 3-year-old fillies.

Positive Danger carved out early fractions of :24.54 and :49.68 with Princess Grace in close pursuit. Midway around the far turn, Princess Grace took command and clocked six furlongs in 1:13.84. She opened up a three-length lead in the stretch and was able to easily turn back a late rally from Pass the Plate.

“The pace unfolded exactly how I thought that the horse to my inside (Positive Danger) would go to the lead and we could sit just to her outside,” said Geroux, who also rode Lovely Bernadette to win the 2017 Mrs. Revere. “She broke very alertly and was tracking nicely throughout the race. She's a nice filly and with winning on the dirt it gives the connections more options in the future but I would guess goes back to turf.”

Runner-up Pass the Plate, under Joe Talamo, paid $5 and $3.20. How Ironic, ridden by Rafael Bejarano, was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third and paid $3.80 to show.

Stunning Sky, the 3-2 favorite, was fourth and was followed by Witez and Positive Danger. Hendy Woods was the lone late scratch.

The winner's share of the purse pushed Princess Grace's earnings to $205,260 from a record of 3-1-0 in four starts.

Princess Grace is a dark brown or bay daughter of Karakontie (Jpn) out of the Silent Name (Jpn) mare Masquerade who was bred in Kentucky.

“You're always concerned about a horse that didn't race on dirt yet,” Stidham said. “She had pretty consistent works over the Tapeta surface at Fair Hill. We didn't necessarily have a great line how she would take to the dirt but her early works were on the dirt. We thought she handled it very well then so we were cautiously optimistic. We knew that her dam Masquerade was game on both dirt and turf so we felt good trying it. Down the backside you saw Florent was in a great spot just off the leader. When he let out a notch she just opened up impressively.”

The Mrs. Revere is named in honor of Mrs. Revere, an accomplished Churchill Downs fan favorite in the mid-1980s. Mrs. Revere won 12 races in 28 starts, finished second seven times and earned $429,545 for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Her six wins in a dozen starts at Churchill Downs included stakes triumphs in the Regret, Dogwood and Edgewood in 1984 and the Kentucky Cardinal in 1985. She was owned by Drs. David Richardson and Hiram Polk, who have provided the winner's trophy for the Mrs. Revere in each year of its existence.

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Equibase Analysis: Positive Danger A Live Longshot In Mrs. Revere

The Grade 2, $200,000 Mrs. Revere Stakes features a group of seven fillies, all 3-year-olds, on Saturday at Churchill Downs. In the similar Grade 3 Valley View Stakes last month, Stunning Sky defeated Princess Grace by a half-length, with How Ironic another half-length back in third and with Witez two and one-half lengths further back in fourth. There's no telling if some of those positions may be reversed in the Mrs. Revere, as well as if one of the new faces may prevail.

One of those is Hendy Woods, entering the race off a sixth place finish in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes and prior to that second in the Grade 3 Edgewood Stakes over the Churchill Downs turf course. Pass the Plate won about one month ago, but on dirt in a race scheduled for turf initially. Her best finish at this level was a runner-up effort in the Bourbonette Oaks in March. Positive Danger is a lightly raced filly trying stakes company for the first time and having won the only two times she's run over a mile on turf in her career.

Hendy Woods started her career winning two in a row, both turf routes, in January and March before a seventh place finish in the Regret Stakes in June on the Churchill Downs sod. Rebounding with a win in the Indiana Grand Stakes with a career-best 100 Equibase Speed Figure, Hendy Woods then closed for second in the similar Edgewood Stakes on this turf course, improving just a bit to a 101 figure. Trying some of the best three year old turf fillies in the country in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes last month, an invitation only race, Hendy Woods finished sixth of seven but nevertheless was beaten just three and one-quarter lengths at the end. That effort resulted in a new career-best 107 figure which is tied for the best in the field with the figure Stunning Sky earned winning the Valley View Stakes six days later. Getting the ground saving rail and with red hot Tyler Gaffalione in the saddle for the first time, as well as noting Queen Elizabeth winner Harvey's Lil Goil ran very well when third in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf last weekend, Hendy Woods could be tough to beat in this year's Mrs. Revere Stakes.

Positive Danger is a live longshot in my opinion because she's going to be in front from the start, perhaps with no challengers. A perfect two-for-two in turf routes, Positive Danger earned a career-best 87 figure for her most recent win, in a first level allowance race last month. However, as a 3-year-old taking a step from allowance to run well in stakes is not unheard of. For example, Princess Grace won at the first allowance level two races back in September, then improved to nearly post the upset in the Valley View when coming up a half-length short of Stunning Sky. With an inside post to help ease her way to the front from the opening bell, Positive Danger has the potential to get a very easy lead, get brave, and perhaps hang on for the upset win.

Stunning Sky and Princess Grace finished first and second, respectively, in the similar Valley View Stakes last month at Keeneland, both earning 107 figures. Stunning Sky has now run 11 times, winning three, while Princess Grace has only run three times, winning twice and finishing second in the other. Stunning Sky closed from ninth in the Valley View but that was a function of the very fast pace which saw her further back early than in her previous starts when she was no more than fifth at any stage. Princess Grace rallied from fifth in the Valley View to make the lead with an eighth of a mile to go, before the more seasoned Stunning Sky ran her down in the final yards. Both fillies have a will to win and the ability to back that up and it would be no surprise if both are in the thick of the action at the end of this race.

The rest of the field, with their best  Equibase Speed Figures, is How Ironic (106), Pass the Plate (103) and Witez (102).

Win Contenders, in preference order:
Hendy Woods
Positive Danger
Stunning Sky
Princess Grace

Mrs. Revere Stakes – Grade 2
Race 10 at Churchill Downs
Saturday, November 14 – Post Time 5:36 PM E.T.
One Mile and One Sixteenth on Turf
Fillies, 3-Year-Olds
Purse: $200,000

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Hendy Woods Could Give Mark Casse 3,000th Win In Saturday’s Mrs. Revere Stakes

At the start of racing on Thursday, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse was just three wins away from 3,000 – a mark he could eclipse with Stonestreet Stables' Hendy Woods in Saturday's $200,000 Mrs. Revere (Grade II) at Churchill Downs.

“I actually didn't realize we were this close until Wednesday night when (owner) Gary Barber said something to me,” Casse said from his home in Ocala, Fla. “It's a lot of wins and lots of getting beat up trying to get them.”

Casse has yet to win the Mrs. Revere but his assistant trainer, David Carroll, won the race in 2008 with Acoma. Carroll oversees Casse's Churchill Downs string and has been with Hendy Woods since the start of her career in January at Fair Grounds.

“She can be a bit of a difficult horse to ride at times but has a lot of talent,” Carroll said. “I think with only seven in the Mrs. Revere, and not a lot of pace, it'll be interesting to see how things play out early. She's run well in all of her starts but ran into some really nice horses in her last two races like Sharing and Harvey's Lil Goil.”

Saturday's Mrs. Revere is the headliner of the 11-race program beneath the Twin Spires. First post is 1 p.m. (all times Eastern) and the Mrs. Revere will go as Race 10 with a post time of 5:36 p.m. Run at 1 1/16 miles over the Matt Winn Turf Course, the Mrs. Revere is the lone graded stakes race in North America this weekend.

Churchill Downs leading rider Tyler Gaffalione will be aboard Hendy Woods in the Mrs. Revere. Gaffalione finished third in last year's running of the race aboard The Mackem Bullet.

Casse had two horses entered on Thursday: one at Indiana Grand and one at Gulfstream Park West.

The Mrs. Revere field from the rail out (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds): Hendy Woods (Gaffalione, Casse, 3-1); Positive Danger (Brian Hernandez Jr., Tony Granitz, 15-1); Stunning Sky (Ricardo Santana Jr., Mike Maker, 5-2); Princess Grace (Florent Geroux, Mike Stidham 3-1); How Ironic (Rafael Bejarano, Vicki Oliver, 4-1); Pass the Plate (Joe Talamo, Paul McGee, 8-1); and Witez (Julien Leparoux, Ian Wilkes, 8-1).

The Mrs. Revere is named in tribute to the highly competitive filly who collected a total of four Churchill Downs stakes during the two-year span of 1984-85. Mrs. Revere won three stakes in total during her 3-year-old season, thus providing the appropriate name for this stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the turf. Mrs. Revere was owned by the partnership of Dr. Hiram Polk and Dr. David Richardson.

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Top Four Finishers From Valley View Rematched In Churchill’s Mrs. Revere

Paradise Farm Corp. and Parkland Thoroughbreds' $150,000 Valley View Stakes (Grade 3) winner Stunning Sky leads a competitive field of seven 3-year-old fillies that were entered in Saturday's 30th running of the $200,000 Mrs. Revere (G2) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

The Mrs. Revere, a 1 1/16-mile event over the Matt Winn Turf Course, is carded as Race 10 with a post time of 5:36 p.m. (all times Eastern). Saturday's 11-race program has a first post of 1 p.m.

Trained by Mike Maker, Stunning Sky recorded a half-length score at odds of 5-1 over fellow Mrs. Revere rival Princess Grace in the 1 1/16-mile Valley View on Oct. 16. Stunning Sky, a 3-year-old daughter of Declaration of War, will be hoping for a fast pace after closing from more than six lengths behind the early pace in her last start on the Keeneland turf course. Claimed for $50,000 in her second start from trainer Jorge Abreu last December, Maker spotted Stunning Sky against stakes company in eight of her last nine starts. She finished second in the $150,000 Lake Placid (G2) and $500,000 Saratoga Oaks prior to her Valley View score.

Ricardo Santana Jr., who has teamed with Maker to win with nine of 36 starts this year, has the call on Stunning Sky and will break from post position No. 3.

The Top 4 finishers of the Valley View were entered in the Mrs. Revere as they seek revenge against Stunning Sky. Susan and John Moore's lightly raced Princess Grace will be attempting to turn the tables against her Valley View rival in just her fourth lifetime start. Trained by Mike Stidham, Princess Grace dominated her first two starts at Colonial Downs and Monmouth, respectively. In the Valley View at odds of 7-1, Princess Grace held a 1 1/2-length lead at the top of the stretch but could not hold off the late surge from Stunning Sky.

Jockey Florent Geroux will be in the saddle for the Mrs. Revere from post 4.

Finishing just one-length behind Stunning Sky and a half-length back of Princess Grace in the Valley View was G. Watts Humphrey's How Ironic. The homebred daughter of Tonalist drew post 5 with Rafael Bejarano in the saddle.

Also entered in the field of 3-year-old fillies: Stonestreet Stables' $300,000 Edgewood (G2) runner-up Hendy Woods; Silverton Hill's recent allowance winner and $100,000 Tepin third-place finisher Pass the Plate; Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson's Indiana Grand allowance winner Positive Danger; and Mary Ann Charlston's two-time winner Witez, who recently finished fourth in the Valley View.

The Mrs. Revere field from the rail out (with jockey and trainer): Hendy Woods (Tyler Gaffalione, Mark Casse); Positive Danger (Brian Hernandez Jr., Tony Granitz); Stunning Sky (Santana Jr., Maker); Princess Grace (Geroux, Stidham); How Ironic (Bejarano, Oliver); Pass the Plate (Joe Talamo, Paul McGee); and Witez (Julien Leparoux, Ian Wilkes).

The Mrs. Revere is named in tribute to the highly competitive filly who collected a total of four Churchill Downs stakes during the two-year span of 1984-85. Mrs. Revere won three stakes in total during her 3-year-old season, thus providing the appropriate name for this stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the turf. Mrs. Revere was owned by the partnership of Dr. Hiram Polk and Dr. David Richardson.

 

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