Pucker Up Stakes (Grade 3)- $400.000 Purse
ELP- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
August 3, 2025

Looking at the action for Sunday at ELP, there will be an excellent opportunity for three-year-old female turf horses to pick up a large purse in the 20th running of the Pucker Up Stakes. It’s still a Grade 3, but one that offers $400.000 for its top finishers, giving trainers plenty of reason to pucker up. This race was mainstay at AP and would maintain its history after the closure of that track in Kentucky, first running at CD in 2022, before moving to ELP in 2023. Last year’s race was won by Royalty Stables and his filly, Gormley. She would only race three more times before being retired and has already given birth to three foals. We’ll have seven in this year’s field, let’s meet them now:

1- Hawaii (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by A Beschizza)- Looking to show what she can do against this type of field. Since being picked up in the December auction, Hawaii has only raced three times. Those would be two wins, breaking her maiden at TUP then a nice N1X win at PIM. That led the trainer to place her in the Grade 3 Soaring Softly, but she would not run well. She’ll stretch out here, which is actually how she won her previous two races.

2- Ava (Royalty Stables, ridden by J Lezcano)- Gets the call to try and get the trainer back to the winner’s circle and she should have a good opportunity to do so. She is, after all, a BC champion, winning the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf last November. Since then, she has only made three starts, and none of them ended with her getting the win. Last time out, she ran in the BEL Oaks at SAR, and finished in a fourth-place dead heat, and it’s possible that it will simply take a similar effort here to get the win.

3- Lacey Underall (South Shore Stables, ridden by F Pennington)- This Proud Chai filly looked good in overnights, winning three of five starts and certainly earning the right to moved forward into the stakes level. However, she has struggled to adapt, struggling mightily in two off track races. She’d be better in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes as she ran third but was still beaten by four lengths. Didn’t show much last time out, either, but gets another vote of confidence by her trainer. At any time, she may turn the corner, but others here have already made that turn.

4- Happy Dancer (Nakamura Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- Just missed in her last race, losing the head bob at the wire to Risky Valuation in the $100.000 Boiling Spring Stakes at MTH. In nine starts, she’s won three times, and when she has not won, she is typically close like she was in the Boiling Springs, hitting the board seven times. She’s not yet a stakes winner, but it seems like it’s just a matter of time, and that time may be right here.

5- Mami (Alydar Stables, ridden by E J Zayas)- Lately, it seems like whenever Mami is in a race, you can count on an off track, as three of her last four races have been on a wet surface. While the trainer would not complain if that happened again, it looks like we will be dry here on Sunday. Mami’s won three of her last five, including the Grade 2 Wonder Again at SAR two months ago. That win makes her the only horse in this field who has won a graded stake in 2025.

6- Face The Storm (Martyparty, ridden by M Pinto)- Had an inconsistent start to her career, and that lead to her placement in a $20.000 claimer in June at CD. No one picked her up, and that may make the trainer party, as the filly was placed into the Grade 3 RGD at DEL after that, and would be second best. It might be too early to say she has put her hot and cold nature behind her, but another strong effort here will do that. One question to ask, though: is this race long enough for her?

7- The Viper Crew (Mb Stables, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- A strong two-year-old campaign saw two wins and an appearance in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf. She did not cash a check there and would later be auctioned off by Fractious for $200.000. In three starts since then, all optional claimers, she’s managed one win, and that came in her last start but one that came four months ago. With some rest, there’s reason to be optimistic that she can get back to form.

Prediction: 4-5-2-7

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES