A year after her signature win in the 2022 Black-Eyed Susan (G2), Interstatedaydream returned to Pimlico and scored another course-and-distance victory in the $100,000 Allaire du Pont Distaff on Friday’s Black-Eyed Susan undercard. But the 7-10 favorite had to fight harder to see off a sustained challenge from the 21.90-1 Misty Veil.
Trained by Brad Cox for Flurry Racing Stables, Interstatedaydream was rebounding from a lackluster fourth in the April 21 Doubledogdare (G3) at Keeneland. Two starts ago, however, the Classic Empire filly placed third to Secret Oath and Clairiere in her comeback in the March 11 Azeri (G2). That Oaklawn Park form made her the one to beat here, and with Lasix back on her agenda, she ran up to her best.
Interstatedaydream loomed as the controlling speed, and regular rider Florent Geroux put her straight on the lead. Her lone pace rival, the 17-10 second choice Falconet, was drawn on the outside. Hustled to prompt Interstatedaydream early, Falconet flanked her through fractions of :24.35, :48.93, and 1:12.72.
Turning for home, Misty Veil ranged up to join them, but Falconet retreated. Interstatedaydream had a battle on her hands as upset-minded Misty Veil accosted her. Then the favorite found extra inside the final furlong and inched away again by a half-length.
“She showed a lot of heart today, especially the last furlong,” Geroux said. “It was very simple. A six-horse field. I was inside. She showed speed. We pretty much knew, depending on the break, whoever broke good was going to make the lead.
“Irad (Ortiz Jr.) put his filly (Falconet) right next to me. I didn’t feel like we were going super-fast. But it was pretty legitimate fractions. It looked like the filly (Misty Veil) took a swing at me. I switched my stick. But when my filly looked at her in the eye, she gave me another gear the last sixteenth of a mile.”
Le Da Vida gained steadily on the outside to take third, another half-length astern of Misty Veil. There was a five-length gap back to the disappointing Falconet, trailed by Butterbean and Misty Mauve.
By negotiating 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.32, Interstatedaydream improved her record to 10-5-2-2, $604,069. Her resume includes a victory in last summer’s Indiana Oaks (G3) as well as four stakes placings. Runner-up in the 2021 Adirondack (G2), she placed third in the 2022 Ashland (G1) and second in the Cathryn Sophia S. at Parx in her sophomore finale.
Her Azeri placing suggested that she’d enjoy more success this term, but she failed to build on that effort in the Doubledogdare. Just as she turned the page from her Ashland loss a year ago, and won the Black-Eyed Susan, so did Interstatedaydream find Pimlico congenial on the corresponding Friday.
“There have been a couple of times she’s run where she got right there and had to battle back,” Cox noted. “She never gives up. Even last time at Keeneland, she looked like she was going to be well beaten, and she stayed on to end up fourth.”
Cox added that Interstatedaydream perked up in her training ahead of the Allaire du Pont.
“I brought her to Churchill as soon as the Keeneland race was over. Look, she threw up two 59s (five-furlong works) the last couple of weeks. I kind of squeezed on her a little more, maybe that was the difference there late. Obviously, she liked the company, she liked the track, and she got a good trip.”
Bred by William Graham in Ontario, Interstatedaydream is an auction veteran who most recently sold for $175,000 as an OBS Spring juvenile. The bay is a half-sister to Emmeline, runner-up in the 2021 Woodbine Oaks and Bison City S. Their dam, the Uncle Mo mare Babcock, is a half to Canadian Horse of the Year Uncaptured, from the further family of multiple Grade 1 queen Curalina.
