A field of seven sophomore fillies has been entered in Sunday’s $150,000 Beaumont Stakes (G3) at Keeneland, and two are making their sophomore debuts off runs in last November’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
Grade 1 winners Dancing Rags and Sweet Loretta will vie for favoritism in the Beaumont and are currently listed at 9-5 and 7-5, respectively, on the morning line. The seven-furlong race is part of the Road to the Kentucky Oaks series of points races, but only offers 10-4-2-1 points to the respective top four finishers.
Dancing Rags has a slight edge on her rival in that she captured the Alcibiades Stakes (G1) at Keeneland last October before shipping to Santa Anita Park for the Breeders’ Cup, where she finished eighth. The Graham Motion-trained daughter of Union Rags returned to the work tab in February and most recently recorded a five-furlong move in 1:02 at Palm Meadows Training Center. Regular rider Angel Cruz has the call.
Sweet Loretta brought an unbeaten three-for-three mark into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies after breaking her maiden at Monmouth Park by seven lengths, taking the Schuylerville Stakes (G3) at Saratoga by 4 1/4 lengths and dead-heating for a 5 3/4-length victory in the Spinaway Stakes (G1), also at Saratoga. She was bumped and stumbled early in the Breeders’ Cup before fading to 11th. Trainer Todd Pletcher has tabbed Javier Castellano to stay in the Tapit filly’s saddle in this spot.
Only one other runner in the Beaumont has prior stakes experience and that is Promises Broken. The chestnut daughter of Algorithms finished sixth while making her stakes bow in the Cincinnati Trophy Stakes on February 4 at Turfway Park, the same track over which she captured an allowance/optional claimer by 8 1/2 lengths to kick off her three-year-old campaign on January 18. Robby Albarado piloted the Phil Sims trainee to a 12-length maiden debut win at Keeneland last October and takes back the mount here.
Sine Wave is perfect from two starts thus far, breaking her maiden by a head at Laurel Park in December and capturing a February 4 allowance/optional claimer at Parx Racing by 7 3/4 lengths. Florent Geroux will be aboard for trainer Ben Perkins Jr.
My Miss Chiff is also two-for-two, recording both her career triumphs at Fair Grounds and scoring by a total of 13 3/4 lengths for trainer Al Stall Jr. Mitchell Murrill was in the saddle for those wins and holds the reins on Sunday.
The Beaumont field is completed by Laney, who is riding a two-race win streak, and Treble, a neck second against allowance rivals most recently at Oaklawn Park.
