On Saturday at Keeneland, the road to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) will continue with the $500,000 Ashland Stakes. Restricted to three-year-old fillies, the Grade 1 event will be contested at a mile and a sixteenth and has drawn a field of five.
Cathryn Sophia headlines the competitive field as the even-money favorite on the morning line for trainer Jason Servis. Bred in Maryland, the bay daughter of Street Boss sold for $30,000 as a yearling and is undefeated from four starts. Since her debut at Parx Racing in October, she has rapidly ascended the ladder and is coming into this race off of two consecutive graded stakes wins. Javier Castellano will be aboard and they will break from post position three.
Second choice at morning line odds of 7-5 is Carina Mia for trainer William Mott. A dark bay daughter of Malibu Moon, she was purchased for $410,000 as a yearling and is trying to earn her second graded stakes win. She broke her maiden in her second career start and followed that up with a win in the Golden Rod Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs in November. She has had a recent bullet workout and will break from the outside post under Julian Leparoux.
Also in the field at morning line odds of 3-1 is Rachel’s Valentina for trainer Todd Pletcher. A bay daughter of Bernardini, she is out of Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra and has two wins from three starts. Her lone defeat came in a runner-up effort behind champion Songbird in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). She has been training forwardly for her first start of the year and will have Florent Geroux aboard from post position four.
The field is set for the $1 million Haskell, where Nyquist will be trying to re-stake his claim as the top three-year-old in the country.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $300,000 United Nations Stakes. Scheduled to be run at a mile and three-eighths on the turf, the Grade 1 event has drawn a field of ten colts and geldings.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $150,000 Pegasus Stakes, a key prep race for the Haskell Invitational (G1). The Grade 3 event will be contested at a mile and a sixteenth and has drawn a field of seven three-year-olds.
With five grade 1 races and a grade 2, the undercard for the June 11 Belmont stakes could be the best single day of racing on the calendar outside of the Breeders’ Cup.
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