KD Ladies Turf (Grade 3)- $2,000.000 Purse
KD- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile on the Turf
August 30, 2025
The KD Ladies Turf is another example of an incredible opportunity that is out there for turf horses this time of the year. This race is held at a mile and sees a $500.000 increase in its purse from $1,500.000 to $2,000.000. When the race first appeared on the schedule in 2017, it ran for “just” $350.000, and it is very appealing to see what they are doing at KD with these incremental increases. In 2024, the KD Ladies Turf was won by Demanding Commander, who won by a length for Mb Stables. She raced into this April but has since been retired. That has not stopped Mb from having three in this race, let’s take a look at them and the other eleven that will head to the gate in this full field!
1- Beach Towel (Winning Link Stables, ridden by G Corrales)- Most of Beach Towel’s career had been on the dirt, and looking back at her three-year-old season, she was a filly that ran in both the KYO and the BC Distaff. This year, she struggled in multiple races, leading Winning Link Stables to move her to the turf. Since then, she’s taken two of three, beginning with a win in an optional claimer, then other in the Grade 2 Nassau Stakes. She’s used to big fields and big races, so can handle this crowd. For what it’s worth, this is the third race in a row where she drew the rail.
2- My Princess Em (Bigchief Stables, ridden by S Elliott)- Since having what was nearly a two-year layoff, My Princess Em has managed to hit the board in all eight races since her return. Four of them are wins, and that includes her maiden victory last December. From that point, she’s done what Bigchief Stables has asked her to do, starting with ungraded stake wins, then grabbing the Grade 3 Eatontown in June at MTH. When she doesn’t win, she is close, with a near miss last time out in the Grade 2 Canadian Stakes, and this trend should continue here.
3- Poetic Panther (Maletto, ridden by Jam Rodriguez)- Ran in the KD Ladies Turf last year while riding a four-race winning streak that had included the Grade 1 Diana. Ran third in that race and later went on to run fifth in the BC Fillies and Mares Turf. This year, she would win the Diana again, one of the two wins on the year. Now, can she do two spots better in this race than she did last year. The biggest question mark on her is that she is only on two weeks rest here, having run in the Taylor at WO, but that’s not really a big concern at all as she has handled shorter rest periods very well in the past.
4- Antares (Alydar Stables, ridden by D Cabrera)- This veteran six-year-old mare will make her 35th career start, and her fifth for Alydar Stables. With her current trainer, she is 4-for-4 at finishing second and has been the runner up in six of her last seven starts. Her last win came in May of last year, in the Grade 3 Sidney at CD, a win that at the time was her third overall. As a whole, Antares has been a part of the exacta in 25 of 34 career starts. Figures to break well right from the gate.
5- Corsica (Glorify Stables, ridden by Mar Garcia)- Trainers will need to be checking for this one in the stretch, because if previous races are any indication, she will be looking to make a late run. It’s been working out well for her lately, as she has been first or second in her last five races. She comes here off a career best 100 SRF three weeks ago at DMR, when she was the runner up to Right As Rain, a horse running today as well in the KD Ladies Sprint, in the Yellow Ribbon Handicap. This is her toughest challenge to date, but she should be up for it.
6- Children Of The Sod (Onlineracingclub.com, ridden by R Latchman)- After a tough spring, Children Of The Sod was dropped into an open allowance at PRX for her last start, which she would win. Now, the trainer hopes that she simply needed that confidence booster and can get back to being the effective filly that she was before the cold spell, where she had won back-to-back Grade 3’s. She has also had a couple months of rest, so that may help as well. Overall, she has won seven of nineteen, but this field could be a little too deep for her. She will have to be at her best.
7- Date Knight (Our Athletes, ridden by T Conner)- After consecutive victories over the winter on the grass, Date Knight was moved to the main track in hopes that she could carry that over to the dirt. That did not happen initially, though when it was muddy for the Eight Belles in May, she did run second. Despite that effort, Our Athletes moved the three-year-old filly back to the grass, and it looks to be the right move based on her last two outings. Won the Grade 3 ONT Colleen Stakes at WO last month. Our Athletes brought the only three-year-old in the field to the KD Ladies Sprint and does the same here in the KD Ladies Turf. That gets her a three-pound weight allowance.
8- Class Command (Asgar, ridden by K Roman)- Ran last month in the KD Preview Ladies Turf Mile, a race that has not really been a preview of this race, given that Class Command is the only one here that ran there. In that race, she ran second and got her picture taken with the winner. She’s a productive filly that usually finishes somewhere in the top four every time she is out there, with her numbers looking even better when you disregard her races on the dirt. As is the case with a few of these, this is her biggest challenge to date.
9- Anoushka Titan (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by A Jimenez)- As a two-year-old, Anoushka Titan appeared in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, but for a while it did not seem like she was ever going to race in that big of a race again. Maxmillion Farm added her for $22.000 in the June 2024 auction but was merely entered in claimers for a while. She did get results there, which led to her moving forward to allowances, and then her last start, the $100.000 Osunitas Stakes. It was her first stake since the BC in 2023, and she went on to win. Now, she can remind everyone that she was once a two-year-old with promise.
10- Secret Of A Lady (Mb Stables, ridden by W T Buick)- Picked up by Mb Stables in the September 2024 auction for $50.000, and the trainer has done very well to being her forward. She has since become a horse that is just a bit shy of $1,500.000 for her career, after having a particularly strong winter. Won the Grade 1 American Oaks right after Christmas at SA and has been productive in top races since then. Ran fifth in the Diana at SAR last time out but can rebound from that here.
11- Let Me Explain (Mb Stables, ridden by L Saez)- There’s very little that this filly has to explain, winning exactly half of her 24 career starts while earning over $3,800.000. This time last year, she was red hot, with four straight wins in top notch races, including the Acorn and the BEL Oaks. Of course, you always have to mention that someone’s a BC champion and Let Me Explain did win the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf in 2023. Isn’t quite as hot this year, but that’s because she has a high standard. Won the Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes at SA in March and is looking to get a much greater win right here.
12- Painville (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by A A Gallardo)- It’s always a pleasure to see Painville out on the track, as she is a two-time BC Fillies and Mares Turf champion. Overall, she has thirteen wins in 40 starts, making over $4,300.000 in her career, and if you’re reading this, you already know that she is going to be a contender every time she is out there. Her 2025 does not have a win yet, but it does have three seconds over six starts, and in a couple of the races, she was involved in a close photo. Maybe that means she is due to get that win right here.
13- Oh No (Greyhound, ridden by Je Toledo)- A horse that certainly will be an underdog in this field, as she has never gone long, and has never run on the turf for her career. She’s done well in dirt sprints, especially with the WV-bred condition at CT. Eleven of her sixteen races have been at the bullring. Now, here she is, being bought by Greyhound for $50.000 last month in private sales and now making her debut for the trainer. Has not had a public work since the sale, and obviously there is information privately that justifies this placement. But, without seeing that, I can’t pick her.
14- Superface Party (Mb Stables, ridden by D E Centeno)- Ran second to her stablemate Let Me Explain in the 2023 BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, and both of them continued to see upward progression as they have gotten older. Superface Party has won over $1,400.000 over 21 starts, so Let Me Explain is outperforming her though she is still productive. Last month, she ran third at a mile and a half Grade 2 Glens Falls at the Spa. Look for her to try and get to the front quickly, especially from this post.
Prediction: 12-3-11-4
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES