The Music City Stakes (Grade 2)- $2,000.000 Purse
KD- For Fillies Three Years Old
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Turf
September 7, 2024

It’s another big weekend of racing at KD, with many high purses sitting there for the taking for top turf horses. Three-year-old fillies have filled up the starting gate for Saturday’s running of the Grade 2 Music City Stakes, hoping to get the top portion of the $2,000.000 purse that is available. This race debuted last year for what seemed to be a nice purse then for $750.000, but that looks small compared to the present amount! We had a dead heat in that race between In Dreams, of TwinTowersRacing, and Stellar Strength, of Mb Stables. In Dreams has not won another stake and has struggled as a four-year-old to recapture her past form. Stellar Strength has been better, regularly hitting the board and ran here last week in the KD Ladies Sprint but did not get a piece of the purse. Each of these trainers will have two entries in this year’s race. Let’s meet them and the rest of the field now:

1- Heavenly Dime (Asgar, ridden by P Lopez)- Once she got her debut race out of the way, Heavenly Dime has been nearly perfect, with four wins in five races, all of which have come on the grass. She’s mostly been running in ungraded races, but her last race is not going to intimidate anyone here. That was the $100.000 Thunder Bay Stakes at WO, for ON-Breds, where she only had to beat two other horses. It shows that she has plenty of potential, and it’s good to see her getting this type of challenge.

2- End Of The Devil (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- In February, she won the $125.000 Valdale Stakes at TP, but afterwards she has only been going long. That worked out well for the trainer early on, winning the Herecomesthebride Stakes (Grade 3) and then running second in the Appalachian (Grade 2). After running third in the Lake George at SAR, she is going to cut back on her distance while chasing this large purse. Seems to be very versatile in terms of distance, so don’t worry about that. Figures to have a good shot here.

3- Bronxbabesarebest (Big Jd Racing, ridden by W T Buick)- Spent most of her career running in ungraded stakes around the $100.000 purse level, and many of them being for NY-Breds. She was productive in them, but didn’t find the winner’s circle in a non-maiden race until she was moved to the turf for the $125.000 Pea Patch at ELP in July. Followed that up nicely by running second in the $150.000 Galway at SAR, so the move to the turf for her has been successful. She’ll have the chance to get revenge on Sister Nancy over the Galway and is an appealing option in this field.

4- Awesome Angel (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by T Gaffalione)- After winning the SUN Oaks in February, Awesome Angel has done nothing despite being given opportunities to run in top races. So, the trainer opts to change something up, and for this filly that will be a move from the dirt to the turf. She’s never raced on the surface but has been working in preparation for this switch. Eventually, something has to change as for now the SUN Oaks is the exception rather than the norm for her.

5- Star Sapphire (Fractious, ridden by F Geroux)- Much like Awesome Angel, Star Sapphire is going to be making her turf debut in a very challenging manner. She had been doing well on the dirt, though, and comes here off of running third in the Grade 1 Test. Unfortunately, there are no recent public turf works, and even as late as August 29, she had been working on the dirt. Fractious is confident she is ready, but without seeing some sort of turf work on her, I couldn’t pick her in a race like this.

6- Decimas Queen (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Early in her career, Decimas Queen was successful on the turf, but was moved to the main track for the SA Oaks. That went perfectly, as she went on to win it by two lengths, getting her into the KYO. She almost won that as well but settled for second. Next came the Acorn, which would be a race she’d love to forget, and it sent her back to the grass. Since the Acorn, she won the $250.000 Tepin at CD, and then Grade 1 Hirsch at DMR. With her, surface does not matter as she has no issue on either, and distance seems to be the same way. May be the one to beat in here.

7- Sinisoul (Alydar Stables, ridden by D E Centeno)- A very consistent filly early in her career, hitting the board in all seven starts that followed her debut race. Two are wins, highlighted by the $60.000 Dye Stakes at TUP the day before Decimas Queen was running second in the KYO. Works well, and she’s been effective in the races she has been in, and now she’ll get a chance to take on some of the best in the division, which she really has not seen much of yet.

8- Kuul Off (Asgar, ridden by E J Wilson)- The Sweat It Off filly has spent the entirety of her eleven race career on the turf, and picked up a nice win back in April in the Giants Causeway against some pretty good opposition. She’s been productive since then, running in ungraded stakes, but could use another trip to the winner’s circle. Last time out, she was rather flat in the Galway at SAR, and she runs into its top two finishers again.

9- Reaper Lightning (Fractious, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- A successful juvenile season got her into the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, but she had a subpar outing. A little later, she found herself sold to Fractious for $300.000 and has gone on to win three of six as a three-year-old. On KYO day at CD, she had no issue with the soft turf and won the Grade 2 Edgewood. Two starts later, she was fifth in the BEL Oaks, and Fractious must have been concerned about that as she was dropped pretty far into an open allowance at ELP. She won, so hopefully any concerns about the BEL Oaks are gone now. Hasn’t sprinted in a while, though.

10- Eye Catching (Mb Stables, ridden by J Lezcano) A lightly raced filly, as this will only be her sixth career start. She’s a second quarter two-year-old, but did not debut until December of last year, and the trainer’s patience has paid off. The debut didn’t go well, but since then, she has won three out of four, including the $150.000 Coronation Cup last time out at SAR. That was her first turf race and had no issue at all with it. Appealing, as she still may have a large amount of upside.

11- Neon Star (Night Mare Racing, ridden by M Pinto)- Broke her maiden in late January on soft turf, and has mostly been running in stakes ever since. The results have been hit or miss, with a couple of second place efforts being the bright spots. Has had to deal with off tracks a lot during her career, but that has not seemed to be a problem for her. Rain is not expected here on Saturday as of press time. This seems like a tough race for Neon Star, but I do like how she worked at MTH on Monday.

12- Bright Moon (Mb Stables, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- Like her stablemate in that she has been brought along patiently by her trainer. This is the seventh start for the No Doubt About It filly, and she’s looking for her third win. Two starts ago, she went wire to wire in an allowance at WO which sent her into the Grade 3 ONT Colleen Stakes in late July, but she fell to fifth, in a six-horse field, after setting the pace. This time, she won’t have to run a mile.

13- Beat Down (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by A Cedillo)- Ran in the BC Juvenile Fillies turf last year, and cashed a fourth place check. Afterwards, the trainer wanted to see what she could do on the dirt, but the results were not there, and returned to the grass in March. Since that point, she’s had a good race every other time she has been out there but did not win any of those races until she was dropped into an allowance last month, where she went wire to wire. Capable of following that up, I just can’t trust her, confidently.

14- Sister Nancy (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by M Franco)- We’ve talked about the Galway from SAR a couple times now, and that was a race that saw Sister Nancy get the win while starting from the outside. Of course, there’s a big difference between post 8 and post 14. Prior to that, she was mediocre in the Grade 3 Lake George, so it could be said that she struggles with inconsistency as well. From not actually watching any of her other races, I wonder a little if she is the type of horse who needs everything to be perfect to have a big run. If that’s the case, post 14 might be tough to overcome.

Prediction: 6-3-10-2

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES