Falls City Stakes (Grade 3)- $400.000 Purse
CD- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
November 28, 2024

With all three of my races ending in dead heats last weekend, I am hoping to be able to report on solo winners this week. On Turkey Day, the Falls City Stakes take place at CD with a brand-new look. This race used to be a handicap, but that will not be the case in 2024. The purse will stay the same, with $400.000 offered for that race, though last year did see a $100.000 reduction from the prior two years. There will be five horses taking part, and this will include the defending winner of the race: Always A Virgin. She will be starting on the rail for this race, so we might as well get right to the run through the field now:

1- Always A Virgin (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by J R Velazquez)- When she won the Falls City Handicap last year, she did so for Tinkey, and has continued to race for that trainer until right now. She was sold last month for $200.000 and will make her TwinTowersRacing debut in familiar territory. Always A Virgin went to win the Grade 1 Beholder in March, but after that race, she began to struggle. Ran second in an open allowance last month, the first time that she cashed a check since the Beholder. Let’s see if the new trainer can get her back on track!

2- Storm Invasion (Nakamura Stables, ridden by A A Gallardo)- This filly has won half of her ten career starts, including a big eight length win in her debut for Nakamura Stables. She has only gone stake racing one time, and that came two back in the Grade 2 Zenyatta at SA. She failed to beat any of her rivals that day, but recovered nicely last month at PRX to win an optional claimer. It’s good to see her getting another chance to run at this level so soon after the Zenyatta.

3- Two Phils (Angelos Stable, ridden by F T Alvarado)- Comes into the race looking to extend her winning streak to three. In September, she defeated a group of PA-breds in the $100.000 Plum Pretty, and a month later she carried that momentum into the Grade 2 Mother Goose at the Big A and won that as well! This may be a Grade 3, but it will run for a higher purse than the Mother Goose and is a great spot for her to run.

4- More Interest (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by T Conner)- After being claimed around this time last year, More Interest went six races in a row of finishing either first or second. The stretch was highlighted by the $100.000 Valentine Stakes, for CA-breds, at SA. That was a turf race, and it was the surface she had a lot of early success for the trainer, but those strong results eventually slowed a bit. She hasn’t been bad in the slightest, but we’ll call it more mediocre. Nonetheless, the trainer is confident in her, but we need to see that early 2024 version of her.

5- Skydancer (Riggins Racing, ridden by F Geroux)- When we last saw her, she ran in the BC Distaff Preview, aka the Cotillion at PRX, and struggled to get going there. She likes to come from off the pace, and simply did not do enough in the stretch in that one. But, every year that Cotillion field is powerful, and if you’re losing by “just” three lengths there, I am not worried about how you will fare in a smaller field in the Falls City Stakes. Prior to that, she won the MTH Oaks in late July. She’s certainly a well rested filly, and should run a strong race here.

Prediction: 3-5-2-1

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES