The Bloom Handicap (Grade 2)- $250.00 Purse
BEL- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Dirt
September 26, 2026

The Bloom Handicap is the top sprint of the day at BEL for fillies and mares, offering them $250.00 for six and a half furlongs. That amount is where the purse level has been since 2021, and is towards the upper hand of the historic purse range. A field of eight will be taking part in the race, one that was won last year by In Progress, for TwinTowersRacing. It would be that one’s final victory and she has since been retired. Most of the weights in this field range between 116 and 118, but we have one carrying 123, which we will get to in a bit. Here’s the field!

1- Promote Violence (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by Mar Garcia)- Picked up by the trainer for $100.00 this May, and has made two starts for Maxmillion since then. Both of them were strong efforts, and she did run third last time out in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss Handicap at SAR. In her prior barn, she ran in a handful of graded races, with another third place effort at the Spa to show for it, that happening in 2025’s Grade 1 Test. Still looking for her first stake win.

2- Lil Sunshine (Threshold, ridden by D E Centeno)- Reminds me of the trainer’s entry in the Vosburgh, Hound Dog, with her consistent track record in overnights, grabbing at least part of the purse since July 2025. But also like Hound Dog, she looks like she’s been running underneath herself a bit in those races as she’s mainly been at low or mid level tracks. Looking back more on her history, she has plenty of graded runs, but it looks like the trainer began to favor consistency in overnights with her. Good to see her back in a race like this.

3- Absent Friends (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by L Saez)- Not a horse that wins a lot, but when has that ever stopped this trainer? In eighteen starts, she has only made two trips to the winner’s circle, and hasn’t since April 2025 in a TUP optional claimer. She’s been moved up since then, and despite the lack of wins, she has absolutely not looked out of place at the stake level and may just be a victim of bad luck. Fifth by two lengths in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff in May, and sixth by a length last time out in the Grade 3 Bernardo Stakes. A better horse than she looks like at first glance.

4- Honey (Martyparty, ridden by M J Sanchez)- With Honey, it’s not a question of her past performances. They are obviously great, but because they are great, she comes to this race carrying 123 pounds, which is 5-7 pounds more than the rest of the field. That’s significant in any form of racing, so the question is how much will it drag her down. The results are certainly there with three wins in her last five, with two of them being graded victories, with another second for good measure. Her win in the Honorable Miss Handicap was a field of five, but in it she carried 4-5 more than everyone else. I wish she was better last month in the Ballerina, though.

5- Neon Sara (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by J Bravo)- Like her stablemate, Neon Sara could be a little snakebit over the course of her career, with a lot of finishes where she was close to the eventual winner, but missed out on a check entirely. Has a recent knack for finishing fifth, which is not a good thing but she’s not beaten by much. She’s run in graded races in her last three times out and has at least upgraded that to cashing a pair of fourth place checks. Unfortunately, having so many of those close but not good enough finishes can mean she lacks stretch desire. Without watching all of those races, I don’t want to say that definitively, but even though I could see her stepping up one day, it’s hard to get behind her here.

6- Confident Elegance (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by M J Husbands)- I enjoyed covering her last year, and it seemed like she was on the way to becoming even better than what she has. It still doesn’t seem like she has fully recovered from the KYO, but she has, at times, run some big races, such as last October with her Buffalo Trace Franklin County (Grade 2) win. On a brief tangent, is that the longest graded stake name in the game? Was spotty in overnights this year, but did win at FE two months ago. She’ll also move to the main track for the first time since June 2025, and only the second time she’s been on the dirt since the KYO.

7- Barossa Valley (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- Carrying 118 pounds for the race, which is 1-2 more than everyone not named Honey. That shouldn’t matter, as this five year old mare is exceptionally reliable. While she has won nine times, none of them have come after May 2025, a stretch of eleven races. In those starts, she’s been second six times, and only failed to cash a check once. Several of those runner ups saw her get her picture taken at the wire with the winner as well, which was the case last month in the slop at the Grade 3 Seaway Stakes at WO. That’s relevant to note, because while forecast data is “unavailable”, rain is anticipated in the northeast on Saturday.

8- Sugar Queen (Mb Stables, ridden by M Franco)- When we last saw Sugar Queen, she taking a shot at the $1,750.00 Grade 1 KD Ladies Sprint. It was her graded debut, and was following a stretch of three wins in five starts. She would not be able to step up, starting near the back and having a flat overall performance. While all of those other wins came on the turf, too, Mb brings her back to the main track, which is where she did get some ungraded experience with early in her career. The last start concerns me a little, but this trainer can make the needed adjustments.

Prediction: 7-1-4-8

– NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES