The Prioress (Grade 3)- $225.00 Purse
SAR- For Fillies Three Years Old
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
September 6, 2026

The tote board for the race displayed about as balanced odds throughout the field as you’ll see, but our top picks would all show up, hitting the trifecta straight up, and one spot away from getting the full top four right. That doesn’t make us anything, but it does get Maxmillion Farm the top prize as his filly, Acapulco Gray, earns the win! Acapulco Gray clearly had been knocking on the door of a win, with four straight second place finishes including last month in the Grade 1 Test, and she get the job today, earning Maxmillion Farm his first Prioress trophy. That’s also true for the jockey, S X Bridgmohan. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:09.20, the fourth quickest in the history of the race. Let’s take a look at it now!

(1/4 Mile- :22.21)- Shedaresthedevil pushes to the lead from the outside for D J C Racing Stables, and will hold a narrow advantage on Greyfriars Stable’s Killer Conquistador heading into the turn. Dismantle stalks these two while riding the rail for Mb Stables, and there is a length and half to a four wide group to behind her. Lily Potter, trained by Delta Farms, is a head in front of the others at this point, and she has Wants It All and Dark Karloff, respectively trained by Mo Mentum Farm and TwinTowersRacing, running to her outside with nothing between them. On the inside here, our eventual winner from Maxmillion Farm, Acapulco Gray, is able to keep pace. It’s one more length to our two trailers, Midnight Glitch (Mb Stables) and Island Fever (D J C Racing Stables).

(½ Mile- :45.46, Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Soon after entering the turn, Killer Conquistador makes the pass for the lead, but Shedaresthedevil initially shows some resiliency to keep running with her. Dismantle will need to move off the rail, but is now set up in a beautiful position for the stretch to come between these two and bring it home. Of that prior four wide group, three of them remain, with Lily Potter and Wants It All matching one another’s stride. Within half a length to their inside, Acapulco Gray runs well, and is positioned directly behind Dismantle, which should work well for her here since Dismantle is also in good stride. Meanwhile, Dark Karloff has dropped back, and Midnight Glitch is now ahead of her. Island Fever still runs at the back, and the time is now for her to make her push.

(Finish- 1:09.20)- Early in the stretch, Shedaresthedevil calls it a day, and this allows Dismantle to make her move to the front even easier than it was setting up to be. Dismantle then showed her courteous nature by moving a further lane down to create an opening for Acapulco Gray to come through. With a furlong to go, it looked like Dismantle was actually starting to draw away for a moment, but Acapulco Gray decided she was tired of finishing second in these races lately, and dug down deep under the urging of S X Bridgmohan. Getting closer to the wire, this effort was paying off, and while Dismantle did everything she could, there was simply going to be no denying Acapulco Gray this time around, as she wins by half a length. Dismantle gets the hard earned runner up this time, and it’s a length to Lily Potter who ran consistently to the wire to herself be a clear length ahead of fourth place Wants It All. Island Fever gets up for fifth, one more spot, then we would have correctly picked that top four! The rest of the order will read Killer Conquistador, Midnight Glitch, Dark Karloff, and Shedaresthedevil.

About The Winner- Acapulco Gray, trained by Maxmillion Farm and ridden to victory by S X Bridgmohan, is a three year old filly by Acapulco Bay and is out of Stronger. She was bred by Harrell Racing in California as a third quarter two year old and was acquired by Maxmillion Farm for $75.00 in an October 2025 private sale. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fourth in 11 starts, her second stake win and first graded win. Her career earnings are now $640.60.

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES