Krantz Memorial Stakes ($100.000 Purse)
FG- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
January 17, 2026
As we continue to look at the FG card on Saturday, we will also have the 20th running of the Krantz Memorial Stakes, which is for older fillies and mares at over a mile on the turf course. This is an ungraded stake, and it has been that way since 2005. Over half of the previous editions have had a purse lower than $100.000, so this has never been a big race at FG. In 2025, Train Station powered to victory for TwinTowersRacing and has continued to run well. She’ll pass on defending on her title, as she could have higher aspirations. Here’s a look at the seven that will be heading to the gate:
1- Huntee (Hunterman Stable, ridden by B Curtis)- In April, Huntee won the Grade 3 Royal Heroine Stakes at SA, but has not been able to build on that result. Since June, she’s been mediocre, picking up some fourth-place checks that look more like a “best of the rest” type result. Was a non-factor at TAM last month, but the trainer hopes a new year can bring her back to Royal Heroine form.
2- Yesterdays Queen (Wood Racing Stable, ridden by P Lopez)- It’s been a full year since Yesterdays Queen was claimed by Wood Racing Stable, and the now five-year-old mare has hit the board each time out. Her first two results were wins, leading her to be moved up in class. After a couple of near misses, especially in the Miss Southern OH Stakes, it seems like it is only a matter of time before she is a stake winner. Perhaps this will be the day.
3- Ediana (Royalty Stables, ridden by F Geroux)- Since breaking her maiden, Ediana has been rotating wins and seventh place finishes, a trend that Royalty Stables wants to come to an end right here. Won her last start with a wire-to-wire win in a GP optional claimer but struggled in her stake debut before that. That was a tough assignment, the Grade 1 QE II Challenge Cup, and for now, the type of field she faces here is more suitable for her.
4- Snow Pea (First Flight Stable, ridden by F H Da Silva)- In eight starts, Snow Pea has just her maiden win, which came at KEE in April. Since then, she’s had a couple of strong efforts in the five starts she has made, including running third last time out in the $125.000 Tropical Park Oaks, which was her first time going long on the grass. More of the same will be needed, but she has been too inconsistent since that win for me to be confident that she will run just as well again.
5- Say Her Name (Robeth, ridden by M Pinto)- After finishing second in the $60.000 Cajun Miss for LA-Breds, Say Her Name was sold to Robeth for $50.000. She’s made three starts since that May race, with a singular result in each of the top three possible finishing positions. All of them are in overnights, and it’s the win last time out at PRX that sends her to her second stake start right here.
6- Groovy (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by J R Velazquez)- There’s no debating whether or not this one has had a successful career, as she is a winner of over $700.000 lifetime. She has five wins over 27 starts, but it has been a while since the last time she visited the winner’s circle. For Groovy, that came in November 2024 in the Grade 3 Chilukki. Since that point, she been highly inconsistent but up until July was at least showing enough to keep giving her these opportunities. Her last two starts have been struggles, and she will need to get 2026 started off right.
7- Childe Girl (Nakamura Stables, ridden by I Castillo)- If it wasn’t for Groovy, it would be easy to point out Childe Girl as the most accomplished horse in this field. Unlike Groovy, she is coming off a productive 2025 that saw her win three times and hit the board seven times out of eight races. The wins weren’t in stakes, and you could make the point that she may have been running a little too low for her abilities in some of those races. She did run in a stake last time out, taking on NY-Breds at AQU and placing second in the Bay Ridge.
Prediction: 3-7-2-6
— NS
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded