Saturday Insights: High-Class Maidens On Tap At the Fair Grounds

[Wandering Eyes]

2nd-FG, $65k, Msw, 3yo, 6f, post time: 1:30 p.m. ET
A $185,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, TROMBONE (Maclean's Music) breezed an eighth of a mile in :10 flat and was knocked down to owner Kaleem Shah for $850,000 at last year's OBS April Sale. The April foal's winning dam Apologize (Lemon Drop Kid) is a half- or full-sister to four others to salute, including MGSW Aurelia's Belle (Lemon Drop Kid) and SW Dripping Gold (Lemon Drop Kid). This is the high-class female family of Althea, Twining, Atelier, Aldiza, et al.

Vivo Stavolta (Not This Time) is an April-foaled son of MGSP Vivo Per Lei (Empire Maker), whose four winners include GI Forego Stakes placegetter Pipeline (Speightstown). Despite a dearth of black-type in his first two dams, Vivo Stavolta must have impressed many a judge, as he was hammered down for $1.3 million at Keeneland September in 2024.

Juddmonte's Deep Flame (Into Mischief) is a maternal grandson of Willstar (Nureyev), whose daughter Etoile Montante (Miswaki) won the G1 Prix de la Foret in France and was a dual graded winner and Grade I-placed on these shores for trainer Bobby Frankel. Etoile Montante is the dam of MGSW Starformer (Dynaformer) and her half-sister Uno Duo (Macho Uno) produced GISW Obligatory (Curlin).

Tranquillo (Independence Hall) was bought back for modest five-figure pricetags as a weanling and as a yearling, but blossomed at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale, where he fetched $400,000 from Hoolie Racing following an energetic gallop through the Timonium stretch. TJCIS PPs

4th-FG, $65k, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 2:30 p.m. ET
ISLAND FLOWER (Gun Runner) draws the rail as a 7-2 chance for this first trip to the races. The Mar. 14 foal is the second runner for dam She's My Gem (Into Mischief), a two-time stakes winner who was acquired by Three Chimneys for $325,000 in foal to More Than Ready at the 2021 Keeneland November Sale. The mare's three foals to be offered at public auction to date have grossed a combined $1.25 million, including Island Flower, a $550,000 KEESEP purchase by Belladonna Racing and her current 2-year-old Detonator (Cyberknife), who realized the same price in Lexington last September. TJCIS PPs

5th-FG, $65k, Msw, 3yo, f, 1mT, 3:00 p.m. ET
John and Susan Moore take the wraps off their homebred PRIMA DONNA (Gun Runner), whose dam Masquerade (Silent Name {Jpn}) was twice stakes-placed over the Stall-Wilson turf course. She has since become a successful producer, as her daughter Princess Grace was a five-time graded winner and twice placed at Grade I level before selling for $1.7 million at Fasig-Tipton November to continue her career in Australia. There she was a Group 3 winner, second in a pair of Group 1 contests and foaled an I Am Invincible (Aus) filly in 2025. Masquerade was also responsible for the ill-fated GSW & MGISP Catnip (Kitten's Joy). TJCIS PPs

7th-GP, $87k, Alw/Opt. Clm., 4yo/up, 1m, 3:20 p.m.
Repole Stables' GRANDE (Curlin) shaped with tremendous promise at this venue last winter, belying odds of 9-1 to score over course and distance at first asking in January before tacking on a first-level allowance going nine furlongs at the back end of February. The $300,000 Keeneland September graduate was last seen jumping as low as 4-1 in the GII Wood Memorial Stakes in April en route to a runner-up effort behind 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Rodriguez (Authentic). The blinkers go on for the comebacker. Praetor (Into Mischief) claimed the scalp of none other than Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in a mile maiden at Aqueduct in the fall of 2024 and aired in his first start of 2025 before checking in third as the favorite in the GIII Stonestreet Lexington Stakes last April. Mario Gutierrez takes the call from Chad Brown. TJCIS PPs

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