Shimmering Allure will enjoy a bit of a class advantage going into Saturday’s $100,000 Busanda S., a Road to the Kentucky Oaks series race contested over 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct.
A Kenny McPeek-trained daughter of Enticed, Shimmering Allure is the field’s lone previous stakes winner, having captured the one-mile Tempted S. at Aqueduct in early November. That three-length score was preceded by a creditable fourth in the Alcibiades (G1) and succeeded by a runner-up placing in the Demoiselle (G2) over the Busanda distance.
Two other members of the five-filly Busanda field have prior stakes experience. The Calumet Farm homebred Gin Gin finished a distant second in the Rags to Riches S. at Churchill Downs in late October, and then came home fifth in the Golden Rod (G2) a month later.
Most of All, a Godolphin homebred, last raced in the Demoiselle. However, having just exited the maiden ranks, she couldn’t keep up with either the winning Life Talk nor Shimmering Allure. She finished fourth, beaten 13 lengths by Life Talk, and was more than nine lengths behind Shimmering Allure.
Todd Pletcher, who trained the Busanda’s most prominent winner of recent times in Princess of Sylmar, the 2013 Kentucky Oaks winner, relies on recent maiden scorer Class Act. She graduated in wire-to-wire fashion by three lengths going nine panels on Dec. 7.
The field is rounded out by Princess Mayfair, who makes her first start on dirt having gone 3-1-1-1 over the Tapeta surface at Woodbine last season.
The Busanda, named for the 1951 Suburban H.-winning mare that later produced Hall of Fame colt Buckpasser, will award Kentucky Oaks qualifying points of 20-10-6-4-2 to the respective top five finishers.
