Grade II winners Brushed by a Star and Summer Applause tangle with local stakes contenders in the $150,000 Allaire DuPont Distaff Stakes (gr. III) at Pimlico Race Course May 18, a race Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey also hopes to use in getting Sea Island back to her winning ways.
Brushed by a Star has finished no worse than third in three starts this season, including a third in the Santa Margarita Stakes (gr. I) in March after a runner-up finish to nemesis Joyful Victory in the Houston Ladies Classic in January. The 5-year-old Eddington mare comes into the 1 1/16-mile Allaire DuPont off a second in the April 20 Sixty Sails Handicap (gr. III) at Hawthorne for Unlimited Equine and trainer Eddie Kenneally. Jockey Joel Rosario has the mount from the outside post in the field of seven.
Summer Applause will be directly to the inside of Brushed by a Star under jockey John Velazquez. Trainer Chad Brown sent the 4-year-old
Harlan's Holiday filly to win the Top Flight Handicap (gr. II) at
Aqueduct Racetrack in March before she ran fourth last time out in the April 12 Apple Blossom Handicap (gr. I) at
Oaklawn Park. Summer Applause was sixth in the Houston Ladies Classic, but that was her first race back off a lengthy rest following a fourth-place finish in the 2012 Kentucky Oaks (gr. I).
Phipps Stable's Sea Island also recently returned from a freshening for McGaughey. The 4-year-old
Pulpit filly ran second in a
Keeneland turf allowance event April 12, her first race since finishing as the runner-up in the Nov. 24 Gazelle Stakes (gr. I) on the dirt at Aqueduct. She is still seeking that elusive graded score.
Moon Philly and
Daydreamin Gracie are the local stakes winners who will line up in the Allaire DuPont, both making their graded stakes debuts.
Country Life Farm's Moon Philly, a 4-year-old daughter of
Malibu Moon , races for the first time since an impressive 9 1/4-length victory in the 1 1/8-mile Maryland Racing Media Stakes Feb. 23 at
Laurel Park. The Michael Trombetta trainee has registered four wins since Nov. 3 and hasn't been worse than second in her past seven starts.
PTK's Daydreamin Gracie has won three in a row in Maryland, including the April 27 Shine Again Stakes on the Pimlico dirt. A 5-year-old daughter of
Domestic Dispute , she is trained by former jockey Dane Kobiskie.
Access to Charlie, by
Indian Charlie, was second in the Maryland Racing Media Stakes and came back to be third in the Conniver Stakes March 23 at Laurel. She is trained by Lawrence E. Murray for owner Howard M. Bender.
Withgreatpleasure, winner of the April 4 Ruffian Handicap (gr. II), is cross-entered in the Vagrancy Handicap (gr. II) on the same day at
Belmont Park.
PP, Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Access To Charlie (MD), J. Pimentel, 118, L E Murray
2. Withgreatpleasure (KY), TBA, 124, D Nunn
3. Moon Philly (PA), J. Rose, 118, M J Trombetta
4. Daydreamin Gracie (MD), G. Cruise, 118, D Kobiskie
5. Sea Island (KY) , J. Castellano, 118, C R McGaughey III
6. Summer Applause (KY), J.R. Velazquez, 124, C C Brown
7. Brushed by a Star (KY), J. Rosario, 118, E Kenneally
