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Army Wife Marches To Iowa Oaks Victory; Stilleto Boy Tiptoes On Lead For Derby Upset

Coming off an impressive victory in the Grade 2 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on May 14, Army Wife invaded Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa, to take Friday night's Grade 3, $225,000 Iowa Derby by 3 3/4 lengths as the even-money favorite.

The Oaks was one of two graded stakes on the night, along with the G3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap. The third big race of the evening was the $250,000 Iowa Derby

Trained by Mike Maker and racing for W. Kirk Wycoff's Three Diamonds Farm, Army Wife was ridden to victory by Joel Rosario, who was aboard the Declaration of War filly for the first time in the Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico. She covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.10 and paid $4 to win, It was her fourth victory from nine career starts.

Shesa Mystery finished second, with 8-5 second choice Pauline's Pearl 2 1/2 lengths farther back in third and The Grass Is Blue fourth in the field of six 3-year-old fillies. Sister Annie finished fifth, with Windmill trailing the field. Oliviaofthedesert was scratched.

Rosario was content to secure a cozy spot on the rail aboard Army Wife, who raced in fourth position early and in the run down the backstretch. Sister Annie hung up fractions of :24.27, :48.18 and 1:12.06 for the first six furlongs, with Shesa Mystery putting pressure on her going into the far turn.

Sister Annie and Shesa Mystery battled for the lead on the turn for home, but Rosario had them both measured, swinging Army Wife off the rail three wide into the stretch, hitting the front nearing the eighth pole and drawing off for the victory.

In the $250,000 Iowa Derby, New York-based jockey Jose Ortiz gunned Stilleto Boy to the lead at the start and the Kentucky-bred gelding by Shackleford relaxed on the front end, repelled a challenge from Flash of Mischief around the far turn, then cruised to victory by 4 1/2 lengths.

Trained by Doug Anderson and bred by John and Iveta Kerber, the Iowa Derby winner is owned by the Kerbers, Michael Coleman, Aaron Kennedy and trainer Anderson. Stilleto Boy was winning for the second time in seven career starts, having earned his maiden diploma in his fifth start, going wire to wire at Oaklawn Park on April 17. In his most recent start, Stilleto Boy finished fourth after never getting the lead in the Prairie Mile Stakes at Prairie Meadows on June 4.

Sent off the longest shot in the field of six (following scratches of Proxy, Bourbon Thunder and Snow House), Stilleto Boy paid $35.40 for the win. He ran the 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:42.64 after setting fractions of :23.79, :47.73, 1:11.48 and 1:36.12.

“We wanted him on the front end and Jose did a fantastic job of getting him there,” said Andersen.

Flash of Mischief, who chased Stilleto Boy throughout, held second as a 12-1 outsider for trainer Karl Broberg, with Gagetown2 1/2 lengths back in third and 2-1 second choice Super Stock a neck back in fourth. Nova Rags, the 9-5 favorite, finished fifth, with Rightandjust trailing the field.

Jose Ortiz and Stilleto Boy upset the Iowa Derby

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Gamine Tops Field Of Eight For Monday’s Great Lady M Stakes

Multiple Grade 1 winner Gamine heads a field of eight in the $200,000-guaranteed Great Lady M Stakes Monday at Los Alamitos.

A Grade 2, the Great Lady M is for fillies & mares (3-year-olds) and up at 6 ½ furlongs. It is the eighth of nine races on closing day of the Summer Thoroughbred Festival. Scheduled post time for the main event is 4:28 p.m.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert for Michael Lund Petersen, Gamine has won seven of eight and earned $1,286,500.

A 4-year-old Into Mischief filly out of the Kafwain mare Peggy Jane, Gamine has four Grade 1 successes in three different states on her resume. She has earned those victories – the Acorn at Belmont Park, the Test at Saratoga, the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland in 2020 and the Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs earlier this year – by a combined 33 ½ lengths.

Baffert, who has won the Great Lady M. previously with Fantastic Style (2015) and Marley's Freedom (2018-2019), also entered Qahira.

Idle since finishing a distant second behind Gamine in the Grade 3 Las Flores April 4, the 5-year-old Cairo Prince mare has won half of her 10 races for Baoma Corporation and banked $249,400.

Out of the Bates Motel mare Motel Lass, Qahira is 1-for-1 at Los Alamitos. She won an optional claimer as the 3-5 choice during the 2019 Summer Thoroughbred Festival.

Edgeway will be aiming for her third consecutive victory for Hronis Racing LLC and trainer John Sadler.

The 4-year-old Competitive Edge filly out of the Stormin Fever mare Magical Solution followed a win in an optional claimer Feb. 7 at Santa Anita with a stakes success in the Carousel April 10 at Oaklawn Park.

Edgeway has won four of six and earned $307,200. She was runner-up in the Grade 3 Dogwood as a 3-year-old in her only prior start in a graded race.

Hronis Racing and Sadler also entered Candura, a lightly-raced 5-year-old Into Mischief mare. The gray, who is out of the Candy Ride mare Halloween Candy, has won three of four and banked $162,945. She is 2-for-2 in 2021 with both victories coming at Oaklawn Park, the most recent April 25.

Her win in California came in her career debut Aug. 22, 2018 going five furlongs on the Del Mar turf.

A 4-year-old Shanghai Bobby filly out of the Richter Scale mare Lady Dynasty, Dynasty of Her Own will seek her first graded victory for Tommy Town Thoroughbreds LLC and trainer Jonathan Wong.

The Kentucky bred has won seven of 11 and earned $194,148. She has been away since capturing a $34,980 allowance over the Tapeta surface at Golden Gate Fields May 20.

Her only win in four tries on dirt came in the Borderplex Stakes at Sunland Park in New Mexico Jan. 26, 2020. In her lone graded stakes try, she finished fifth of six in the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks at 1 1/16 miles last year at Prairie Meadows.

Trained by Simon Callaghan for Kaleem Shah Inc., Bella Vita will be making her graded debut. A daughter of Bayern and the Storm Cat mare Queenie Cat, the 4-year-old is 2-for-8 with earnings of $181,790. The California bred has been worse than third only once in her career.

Owned D K Racing LLC, Radley Equine Inc., breeder Helen Alexander and Ramona and Perry Bass II and trained by Dan Blacker, Eyes Open broke her maiden in her seventh career start May 23. The 4-year-old Street Sense filly out of the Bernardini mare Delightful mare has banked $56,920.

Road Rager will be making her first start in nearly 10 months for Samantha Siegel's Jay Em Ess Stable and trainer Brian Koriner.

The 5-year-old Quality Road mare was last seen finishing third in an optional claimer last Sept. 6 at Del Mar. Out of the Aggressive Chief mare She Is Raging, Road Rager has won twice in 13 attempts and banked $128,162.

From inside out, the field for the Great Lady M Stakes:

Candura, Tyler Baze rides, 119 pounds
Dynasty of Her Own, Ricardo Gonzalez, 119
Qahira, Abel Cedillo, 119
Edgeway, Flavien Prat, 119
Gamine, John Velazquez, 119
Bella Vita, Juan Hernandez, 119
Eyes Open, Edwin Maldonado, 119
Road Rager, Jessica Pyfer, 119

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Grade 1 Winner Gufo Stretches out, Add Blinkers For Monday’s Grand Couturier

Otter Bend Stables' Grade 1-winner Gufo will stretch out in distance for Monday's inaugural running of the $150,000 Grand Couturier, a 12-furlong Widener turf test for older horses at Belmont Park.

Trained by Christophe Clement, the 4-year-old Declaration of War chestnut won 4-of-6 sophomore starts, including victories in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Kent at Delaware Park and the 10-furlong Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational.

Clement said Gufo will add blinkers following late-running losses in his last three starts, including narrow defeats in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby by a neck in November at Del Mar; and the Grade 1 Man o' War by a nose in May at Belmont.

Last out, Gufo raced from 17 lengths off the pace before closing to finish third in the 10-furlong Grade 1 Manhattan on June 5 at Belmont.

“He's always way, way out of it and we're just trying to get him closer,” said Clement regarding the equipment change. “He's not going to be on the pace, but it would be great to have him not too far out of it. He's doing well and training well and I love the idea of running him back at Belmont.”

Clement said the Grand Couturier could serve as a steppingstone to the 12-furlong Grade 1, $750,000 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer, slated for August 28 at Saratoga, which offers a “Win and You're In” berth to the Grade 1, $4 million Breeders' Cup Turf in November at Del Mar.

“The plan is to get to the Sword Dancer at Saratoga. That's our main summer goal,” said Clement.

Joel Rosario retains the mount from post 6.

Woodslane Farm's multiple graded stakes winner Sadler's Joy will make his first start since a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Pan American on March 27 at Gulfstream Park.

Trained by Tom Albertrani, the $2.6 million earner, who captured the 2017 Grade 1 Sword Dancer, is in search of his first win since the 2019 Grade 3 Red Smith at Aqueduct. The 8-year-old Kitten's Joy chestnut did cross the wire first in the last year's Grade 2 Bowling Green at Saratoga, but was disqualified and placed fourth.

Jose Ortiz has the call from post 3.

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott will saddle a pair of contenders in Summer Wind Equine's Moon Over Miami and Trinity Farm's Red Knight.

Red Knight, a New York-homebred, captured the Grade 3 Sycamore in October at Keeneland going the Grand Couturier distance. The 7-year-old Pure Prize gelding boasts a record of 24-8-8-1 with four of those scores arriving on the Belmont turf, including the 2019 Point of Entry at 12 furlongs.

Moon Over Miami, a Kentucky homebred, closed from 15 lengths back to finish third, defeated a neck, last out in the Grade 1 Man o' War going 1 3/8-miles on the Belmont turf. The 4-year-old Malibu Moon colt captured the Dueling Grounds Derby at 1 5/16-miles on the Kentucky Downs turf in September.

Junior Alvarado will pilot Moon Over Miami from post 5, while Manny Franco will guide Red Knight from the inside post.

Three Diamonds Farm's Tide of the Sea, a 5-year-old son of English Channel bred in Kentucky by Juddmonte Farms, will look to make amends after finishing last-of-9 last out in the Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup contested at two miles over yielding turf.

Trained by Mike Maker, Tide of the Sea captured the 12-furlong Grade 3 William L. McKnight in January at Gulfstream Park and followed with a close second in the 11-furlong Grade 2 Mac Diarmida at the same track.

Tide of the Sea will emerge from post 7 under Luis Saez.

Rounding out a talented field are Fantasioso [post 2, Javier Castellano], Epic Bromance [post 4, Joe Bravo], Burning Bright [post 8, Eric Cancel], Shamrocket [post 9, Irad Ortiz, Jr.], and Kinenos [post 10, Jose Lezcano].

The Grand Couturier is slated as Race 6 on Monday's nine-race card. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

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Fans Cheer Mighty Heart Home In Dominion Day Stakes

Horse racing fans were back in the stands at Woodbine Racetrack for the first time this season and cheered home Canada's reigning Horse of the Year Mighty Heart in the $150,000 Dominion Day Stakes (Grade 3) on Thursday afternoon at Woodbine Racetrack.

Jockey Daisuke Fukumoto, who was aboard the popular one-eyed colt when he won the first two-thirds of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown last year, was reunited with the champion for today's featured Dominion Day contested over 1-1/16 miles on the main track.

Trained by Josie Carroll and owned by Larry Cordes, the millionaire son of Dramedy established the lead out of the gate and crossed to the rail as he headed into the first turn. A pair of Mark Casse-trained graded stakes winners, Lookin to Strike stalked in behind with the favored March to the Arch just outside pressing the pace.

After a quarter in :25.23 and half-mile in :48.49, the pressure mounted as March to the Arch matched strides with Mighty Heart on the turn while Malibu Mambo rallied three-wide into contention as they passed three-quarters in 1:11.99. However, Mighty Heart fought back and pulled clear of his rivals down the lane to score in 1:43.33.

March to the Arch settled for second, 1-3/4 lengths behind the winner, while Malibu Mambo finished third in front of Lookin to Strike. Skywire, Canada's 2020 Champion Older Main Track Male, completed the field that was scratched down to just five starters.

“I'm glad to get the opportunity to ride this horse again,” said Fukumoto, who enjoyed a career highlight with Mighty Heart when they won last year's $1 million Queen's Plate. “I breezed him a couple times and today I was ready to go, and we did it today.”

Mighty Heart was well prepared for his return to Woodbine, coming off a victory in the Blame Stakes last time out on May 29 at Churchill Downs.

“I thought it [the Blame Stakes] just put him right where I wanted him,” said the four-year-old colt's Hall of Fame trainer. “In fact, he had two works after that, simply because he came out of it so well, we had to sort of take the high note off of him a little bit four days ago so he could settle in this race.

“I think he's just a good horse and he's maturing. We're pretty happy with him today.”

Mighty Heart now boasts five victories from 11 career starts for Cordes, who relished the moment to witness his homebred star in person and hear the fans trackside.

“It's quite a difference,” said Cordes from the winner's circle. “The feeling was much, much better, obviously, and so many fans were behind him.”

Sent postward as the 9-5 slight second choice in the wagering, Mighty Heart paid $5.80 to win.

The scratches were Atone and the Carroll-trained Breeders' Stakes champion Belichick, whose connections opted for an allowance race on Saturday's card.

Live Thoroughbred racing resumes at Woodbine Racetrack on Friday. Post time for the eight-race program is set for 4:50 p.m.

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