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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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Stunning Sky Rallies Late To Capture Valley View Stakes

Paradise Farms Corp. and Parkland Thoroughbreds' Stunning Sky rallied from far off the pace to catch Princess Grace in deep stretch and pull away to a half-length victory in the 30th running of the $150,000 Pin Oak Valley View (G3) for 3-year-old fillies Friday afternoon at Keeneland.

Trained by Mike Maker and ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., Stunning Sky covered 1 1/16 miles on a firm turf course in 1:41.33. The clocking broke the stakes record of 1:41 2/5 established by Spinning Round in 1992.

“She broke pretty good,” Santana said. “The pace was pretty hot. The race set up perfectly for her. Turning for home, she switched leads to her right leg. She gave me everything she had.”

Outburst (GB) led the field of 10 through early fractions of :22.71, :46.23 and 1:10.50 with Walk In Marrakesh (IRE) just in back of her to the outside through the early running as Stunning Sky raced at the back of the pack with How Ironic.

In the stretch, Princess Grace swept past the leaders on the outside and opened a daylight advantage by the eighth pole. Stunning Sky, third from last at the head of the stretch, swung widest of all and was able to overtake Princess Grace in the final 20 yards.

“I was very pleased with the fractions,” Maker said. “The race didn't shape up the way I thought it would, but I left it in Ricardo (Santana Jr.)'s hands, and he rode a great race. She ran some game races, unlucky to lose, at Saratoga. Very deserving. Such a big, classy filly. I like to get a stakes win for (co-owner) Peter Proscia.”

A Keeneland sales graduate, Stunning Sky is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Declaration of War out of the Unbridled's Song mare Sky Walk. The victory was worth $90,000 and boosted her earnings to $304,825 with a record of 11-3-2-1. It is her first stakes victory.

Stunning Sky paid $13.80, $6.40 and $4.80. Princess Grace, ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan, returned $9.40 and $7.20 with How Ironic rallying from last and finishing another half-length back in third under Rafael Bejarano and paying $10.60 to show.

It was another 2½ lengths back to Witez, who was followed in order by favored Duopoly, Outburst, Sugar Fix, Antoinette, Walk In Marrakesh and Pranked.

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Clement-Rosario Strike Again With Speaktomeofsummer In Lake Placid Stakes

Waterford Stable's Speaktomeofsummer answered the question about handling increased distance, finding a seam in the stretch to split competitors and gamely digging in with Stunning Sky to her inside, fending off her challenger in the final jumps for a victory by a head in Sunday's Grade 2, $150,000 Lake Placid Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

After making her first four starts at a mile, the Christophe Clement-trained Speaktomeofsummer was stretched out to 1 1/8 miles but utilized a patient trip under jockey Joel Rosario. The Summer Front filly sat in sixth position as Blame Debbie led the eight-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 24.01 seconds and the half in 49.03 on the inner turf coursed labeled firm.

Coming out of the clubhouse turn, Speaktomeofsummer lost some ground in a tightly bunched field, but Rosario quickly recovered and kept her to the inside. Approaching the far turn, she picked off a pair of rivals before surging when straightening for home.

In the stretch, she overtook Blame Debbie, who Jose Ortiz tried to prevent from lugging out, before linking up with Stunning Sky, positioned by Irad Ortiz, Jr. near the rail, for an exciting final furlong that saw the winner stop the clock in a 1:49.44 final time.

“I was really happy with the trip. I thought I would be a little closer, like Christophe told me, but everybody had the same idea to be up there,” said Rosario, who teamed with Clement to win a Grade 2 at the Spa for a second consecutive day after Decorated Invader captured Saturday's National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame. “It looked like the first part was fast but they all got into their position, so I thought I'd let her be happy there and hopefully have a good run at the end.

“She was moving beautifully but when I passed the leader, she waited a little bit and the other horse came back again,” he added. “But she came on again and I was able to hold them off.”

After running fourth last out with blinkers on for the first time in the Grade 3 Wonder Again on June 20 at Belmont, Clement ran Speaktomeofsummer without blinkers. The equipment change, along with a change in venue in her Saratoga debut, resulted in her third win in five career starts.

“I put the blinkers on [last time] because I thought she was a little lazy in her work in the morning before her last race. That's what happens when trainers start to think too much,” said Clement, who notched his third career Lake Placid win, joining Spotlight and Naissance Royale [the respective 2004 and 2005 victors].

“She had a great trip. Thank you, Joel. He's riding great at the moment. The filly has trained well since the last race at Belmont. She's by Summer Front which is a big deal for us as we trained him plus he's a young sire at the moment. He belongs to Mr. [Tom] Moore, who also owned Summer Front so it is even more meaningful.

“She had a great trip. It was a pretty game last eighth of a mile,” he continued. “I'm delighted. She can do a mile to a mile an eighth for sure, but any further I don't know. I would have to think about it.”

Clement recorded three wins Sunday and totaled five on the weekend.

“The last two days have been good. Let's keep it going,” he said.

Off at 9-2, Speaktomeofsummer returned $11.60 on a $2 win wager. She nearly doubled her career earnings to $175,500. She is a possibility for the 1 3/16-mile $500,000 Saratoga Oaks on August 16.

“I would need to think about it because of the timing,” Clement said. “We will keep it open. Instead of me, we'll let her tell us and see what happens.”

Stunning Sky, trained by Mike Maker, was 1 ½ lengths the better of Queens Embrace for second, marking her best stakes finish in five attempts.

“She showed up and ran her race. She just needed to be a head better today,” said Maker assistant Nolan Ramsey. “At the sixteenth pole, I thought the other horse was going to run right by her, but she was game. No complaints. She ran a great race.”

Key Biscayne, 2-1 favorite Cat's Pajamas, Lashara, Blame Debbie and Mirabell Mei completed the order of finish.

Live racing resumes Wednesday with a 10-race card showcasing the $85,000 Lubash for New York-bred 3-year-olds and up in Race 3 at 1:54 p.m. Eastern. First post is 12:50 p.m. and features the summer meet's first steeplechase race in the $55,000 Jonathan Kiser Novice.

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