Five fillies are pursuing black-type credentials while two are looking to upgrade to stakes winners in the 1 1/8-mile Demoiselle Stakes (gr. II) Nov. 24 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Two of the contenders in the $250,000 event for 2-year-old fillies —Coconut Shrimp and Ruby Lips—have already been tested in stakes company and finished in the money.
Repole Stable's Coconut Shrimp (Giant's Causeway —Weekend Whim) has been racing exclusively on the grass since August. In her last race, she finished a second by a 1 1/2 lengths in the Chelsea Flower Stakes at a mile. Coconut Shrimp certainly has strong connections, being trained by Todd Pletcher, and will be ridden by Javier Castellano, who was onboard when the filly broke her maiden wire-to-wire at Saratoga Aug. 13. Pletcher is having a banner year with the juveniles in his barn, which are winning at a 27% clip.
Coconut Shrimp is coupled in the entries with Repole Stable's Unlimited Budget, a daughter of Street Sense , who broke her maiden by an impressive 9 1/2 lengths Nov. 9 at Aqueduct. Unlimited Budget, to be ridden by John Velazquez, comes into the race off a sharp four-furlong work in :48 on the Belmont training track Nov. 18. She had the fifth-fastest work of the day out of 89.
Ruby Lips finished third in her stakes debut Nov. 4 in the one-mile Tempted Stakes (gr. II) at Aqueduct. Jay Em Ess Stable's daughter of Hard Spun , out of Its a Ruby, has not finished out of the money in three starts. She went into the Tempted Stakes off a maiden win at Belmont Park in September then was trained through October at Aqueduct. Ruby Lips is under the care of Rick Dutrow Jr. and will be ridden by Edgar Prado, who rode her in the Tempted.
Another horse to watch will be Juddmonte Farms' homebred named Emollient (Empire Maker —Soothing Touch) who will be making her stakes debut. The filly finished second by half a length in her first start at Saratoga Race Course, then followed up with a 2 3/4-length victory in a seven-furlong $68,000 maiden race at Belmont. Emollient produced a 101 BRIS Speed Rating in her last race, giving her the only three-digit rating in the field. Clearly a big performance was anticipated since she went off at less than even-money.
Emollient is trained by Bill Mott and will be ridden by Junior Alvarado. Her last work came on the same day at Unlimited Budget and was just 2/5ths of a second slower.
$250,000 Demoiselle Stakes (gr. II, Race 6, 2:22 p.m.), 2YO Fillies, 1 1/8 Miles
PP., Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Emollient (KY), J Alvarado, 115, W I Mott
2. Miss Patricia (KY), R A Dominguez, 115, R E Dutrow, Jr.
3. a-Unlimited Budget (FL), J R Velazquez, 115, T A Pletcher
4. Flash Forward (KY), J L Espinoza, 115, D A Schettino
5. a-Coconut Shrimp (KY), J Castellano, 115, T A Pletcher
6. Giant Cats Eye (KY), A Garcia, 115, T Albertrani
7. Ruby Lips (ON), E S Prado, 115, R E Dutrow, Jr.
a-Repole Stable entry