Joel Politi's Maryland homebred Bosserati, unbeaten in two starts since being moved the grass last month, will attempt to extend her streak and earn a first stakes victory in Sunday's $100,000 Stormy Blues at Laurel Park.
The 5 ½-furlong Stormy Blues for 3-year-old fillies on the Bowl Game turf course is the first of 16 stakes worth $1.525 million in purses during Laurel's 33-day summer meet that runs through Aug. 20, and headlines a nine-race Father's Day program.
First race post time is 12:25 p.m.
By Holy Boss out of the Twirling Candy mare Candy Striper, Bosserati began her career on dirt, breaking her maiden at first asking in a four-furlong maiden special weight sprint last September at Timonium. Fifth next out in her first try against winners, she ran third after setting the pace in the Maryland Million Lassie, beaten 2 ¼ lengths.
“That was a pretty good race,” Politi said. “But the way she finished there it kind of made me think that either she's not fit or maybe she just wanted to try the turf because sometimes horses can't quite finish on the dirt. They're really just turf horses.
“It made sense to give it a try. She's got pedigree for it. Her second and third dam, there's some turf in there, even though Holy Boss is not really turfy at all,” he added. “Twirling Candy is her broodmare sire and her second dam [Grant Marty a Wish] was a stakes-placed turf horse, so there's something to it.”
After running twice more at 2 and finishing sixth in back-to-back starts over the winter to launch her 3-year-old season, trainer Brittany Russell backed off Bosserati and the decision was made to bring her back on the grass.
“I'm not sure really if it's that we gave her a freshening or it's the shorter distance or if she's just really happy on the turf, or all three of them,” Politi said. “She's definitely come around.”
Bosserati went 105 days between starts before returning in a five-furlong claiming sprint on the turf at historic Pimlico Race Course May 12, cruising to a 3 ¼-length victory. She followed up three weeks later with a determined three-quarter-length triumph over the course in an entry-level allowance.
“I haven't pulled all of her speed figures but the ones I've seen jumped a lot, so I think it's reasonable to take a shot with her and see where she fits,” Politi said. “A 3-year-old filly stake is probably not that much tougher than a [second level] allowance against older horses. The way you make some noise is to take some shots and see what you've got. She feels good and is doing fine, so we might as well take our shot.
“We were kind to her. We gave her a little rest, and she's happy,” he added. “We always liked her. She's really pretty. I always thought when she was a 2-year-old that she was a really good mover. I've liked her all along. I'm happy she's finally strutting her stuff.”
Sheldon Russell, up for each of the last two wins, returns to ride from Post 2 in a field of eight.
Brittany Russell also entered Michael Dubb's Apple Picker, a daughter of Connect that debuted for her new trainer with a front-running 6 ¾-length optional claiming allowance win sprinting six furlongs May 25 at Delaware Park. Apple Picker has yet to race on turf, winning one of four starts last year for previous trainer Rudy Rodriguez and finishing fourth in the Adirondack (G3) at Saratoga.
Entered to make her seasonal debut is Gatsas Stable, R.A. Hill Stable, Steven Schoenfeld and Smart Choice Stable's New York-based stakes winner Sweet Harmony. Trained by John Terranova, Sweet Harmony has not raced since finishing 10th after pressing the pace in the six-furlong Matron (G3) contested over an Aqueduct turf course rated good last October.
Sweet Harmony broke her maiden first time out last June on the dirt at Monmouth Park, where she sprung a 12-1 upset in the five-furlong Colleen on the grass in her second start. In her only other start, she led the way for a half-mile before tiring to fifth in the 5 ½-furlong Bolton Landing at Saratoga.
Sterbenz Racing's Caroline Krystyna was an impressive winner of her unveiling May 19 at Pimlico on the undercard of the Black-Eyed Susan (G2). Unraced at 2, she led gate to wire to capture the five-furlong turf maiden special weight by 2 ¼ lengths under jockey Carol Cedeno.
“She was super impressive. She's just a really classy filly. She does everything right,” trainer Keri Brion said. “We were kind of expecting that, to be honest with you, when she ran. I would have been kind of disappointed if she didn't come out and do it quite like that. This is obviously the next step forward, and I expect her to run another big race.”
Based at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., Caroline Krystyna is by multimillionaire Oscar Performance, a winner of seven graded turf stakes, four of them Grade 1, including the 2016 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.
“She had a really nice work with Carol up on Sunday on the Tapeta. It was her final work. She blazed in [47.40 seconds], in hand. She's definitely ready, but it's always a test when you go from a maiden win to the next spot. We'll see, but I'm very happy with her going into it.”
Her most recent work was the fourth straight bullet breeze for Caroline Krystyna, but Brion has been more impressed with the way her filly has performed than with the final time.
“She's very fast but the thing about her is she's not crazy or rank or anything. We breezed her on Sunday in behind horses and she passed them up the straight,” Brion said. “She doesn't need the lead. She can settle off something if someone else wants to go faster than her, but she's just very naturally fast.”
Brion is confident Caroline Krystyna's versatility will be an asset, particularly with as many as five horses expected to vie for the early lead in the Stormy Blues.
“We'll just break and see where we're at. She just might be quicker than everybody else. If she's not, she's pretty sensible and rateable, so she doesn't need to be out there. I think she's going to be a pretty cool horse moving forward because I think she can run any way she needs to run,” Brion said. “It's not a big deal if Carol needs to take her back. I don't think it'll be a big problem. She's definitely not one-dimensional, anyway.”
Caroline Krystyna and Cedeno will break from Post 5.
Completing the field are After Eight, seventh last out after setting the pace in the one-mile Hilltop May 19 on the Pimlico turf; Hidewright Away, a maiden special weight winner two back on Pimlico's main track yet to race on turf; and New York-based My Sweet Affair, third by a length in the 5 ½-furlong Limestone April 14 at Keeneland. Alva Starr is entered for main track only.
The Stormy Blues is named for one of the top 2-year-old fillies of 1994 trained by late Hall of Famer Scotty Schulhofer whose four wins in six starts that year included the Matron (G1), Sorority (G3) and Selima (G3), the latter at Laurel Park.
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