The River Memories ($100.000 Purse)
BEL- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Half on the Turf
July 11, 2021

A small field has assembled at BEL on Sunday for the seventh running of The River Memories, a race that allows older females who love to keep running on the grass a chance to run for a nice purse while possibly avoiding the superstars of the division. The race has run for a $100.000 purse every year but last year, when it was only for $80.000, so it is good to see it increased once again. Number Nine was the winner of the race for Spankys Barn, and she built on that pretty well and has won a couple of Grade 3’s earlier this year. Recently, she switched hands to Smokey Stover. Here’s a look at our field of five!

#1- Sancerre (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by M Franco)- This had been a consistent filly for her career, hitting the board in ten of her fifteen starts, with four wins. However, looking at her last three starts, there is some concern about that. She has had a couple cracks at the graded level, and races like this, and she has knocked on the door with a few seconds in them, but is still looking for that signature win. Don’t think it happens here based on recent form.

#2- Made The Choice High (First Flight Stable, ridden by J J Castellano)- Makes her 36th career start, and was recently claimed by First Flight Stable for $20.000 on St. Patrick’s Day. That was a rare dirt start, but she has mostly been on a turf horse. Her wins have been scattered throughout her career, but none of them have come in a small handful of stake opportunities. The best run was a second place in the Grade 3 Bewitch in April 2020.

#3- Dawning Ice Age (Rock Creek, ridden by J L Ortiz)- As a three year old, she was quite successful, and she did race in the BEL Oaks on this very weekend last year. A couple starts after that, she earned her biggest win, the Grade 1 QE II Challenge Cup at KEE, and that got her into the BC Fillies and Mares Turf. This is where she seemed to decline a little, struggling there, then sitting around a couple months before she was sold in private sales, and then sat around six more weeks. Didn’t come out flying, either. This is a good race to see if she can get back to where she was, or even close to that. No excuses here if she still has it.

#4- Investment Return (Badger Stables, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- Made several appearances in Grade 1’s last year, but that is really all there is to say about those races, as she was off the board in all of them. In ungraded stakes, she was better, with a couple of wins, so when not racing above her head, she does perfectly fine. Former trainer, Grimley, would lose her to Badger Racing via a $62.500 claim, and the new trainer put her in a Grade 2. In that, they saw what Grimley saw: an off the board finish. She was actually quite dismal there, but she doesn’t seem to like it wet.

#5- Maya Caribe (First Street Stables, ridden by D Davis)- Only once in her fifteen race career has this filly failed to hit the board, and that came in her second career start. Otherwise, she has been very consistent with a particular liking to finishing second. Two races ago, she made her stake debut in the Miss Houston Turf Stakes, and after setting the pace, she ended up third. Won her next start, an optional claimer, and six weeks later gets another chance. I’d like her a little more around nine furlongs. Not sure about twelve.

Prediction: 3-2-5-4

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded