KD Ladies Sprint (Grade 2)- $2,000.000 Purse
KD- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Turf
August 30, 2025

Without question, KD has become the place to be for turf horses this time of year, with increased purses for trainers to enjoy while many other tracks keep their purses stagnant or even lower them. The KD Ladies Turf Sprint will now run for a $2,000.000 purse, doubling what it went for last year, and a massive increase from the $300.000 it offered on inception in 2015. Fourteen horses are able to participate, and the gate will be full to capacity for this year’s race. In 2024, Mo Ki Mo got the win for Smokey Stover, though she would pass on the BC. She’s won three of five this year but will not attempt to do what Four Left Feet did in 2019 and 2020 and win the race in back-to-back years. Let’s take a look at our entrants for this year’s KD Ladies Sprint:

1- Frozen Mist (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by Mar Garcia)- After a steady career of running in overnights, Frozen Mist was sold to Maxmillion Farm for $100.000 about three months ago. Maxmillion liked what he saw enough to enter her in the Grade 2 Intercontinental at SAR just two weeks later, and Frozen Mist showed that she belonged with a second-place effort and a 102 SRF. Wasn’t quite as good in the KD Preview Ladies Turf Sprint but will still be one of the trainer’s three entries here.

2- Spectator (Asgar, ridden by E J Wilson)- Looks to win her third race in a row as she enters graded competition for the first time. She’s been a regular participant in ungraded races, and that is where her last two victories have come. Earlier this month, she won the $125.000 Sweet Briar Too at WO and now faces her toughest competition yet. She’s earned the right to do that, and the time is now to take the chance. As an aside, this is probably one I should be rooting for, if not picking, as I have breeding connections to her dam side.

3- Groovy (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by E Jaramillo)- Groovy has made most of her living running long on the main track, both for her earlier trainers as well as for TwinTowersRacing. That changed in September, in the Grade 2 Intercontinental where she had an agonizing finish for any HRP trainer, running fifth and out of the money, but still being within a length of the winner. Looked good when stretching out last month in the Canadian, but the trainer is going to chase the purse money here.

4- Silent Runner (Asgar, ridden by D E Centeno)- Asgar will be hoping the KD Ladies Sprint finishes the same way as its “Preview” did, when Silent Runner grabbed the win out at ELP. She only had to beat four other horses in the race but had a good run from start to finish to grab the win. Prior to that, she struggled in two races, so certainly she needed the type of bounce back performance that she delivered. However, she can be a hot and cold type of horse, and I can’t have confidence in picking her in this deep of a field. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a chance, and if I saw the odds climb on her, I probably would take a shot because she is plenty capable.

5- Menacing Shadow (La Canada Racehorses, ridden by A Jimenez)- Quietly been getting the job done, with seven wins in her last nine starts, a stretch that began last September in the $100.000 Rondeau Bay at FE. Since then, she’s earned a couple of graded wins, which each came in the spring, with the Grade 2 Ruffian Handicap being the highlight. None of those are turf sprints, and in fact, she has only made one start on the grass over her entire career. That came almost two months ago in an open allowance at WO.

6- Emily (Nakamura Stables, ridden by A A Gallardo)- There’s a lot to like about Emily in this field, as the five-year-old mare looks to win her fifth race in a row. When we last saw her, it was up at SAR, where she knocked off last year’s KD Ladies Sprint winner, Mo Ki Mo, as well as Confident Elegance, a horse that was talked about a lot this year, though not for sprinting on the turf. Emily also had a lot of success at SA earlier this year and is at home with the type of conditions that she sees here. Should not be any different here, and she can be expected to be right there with the leaders at the wire, if not winning.

7- Sister Nancy (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by S Elliott)- Beat a few of these up at SAR two months ago in the Grade 2 Intercontinental, and has finished in the top four in every race that she has been in since October. With two months of rest since that career best effort which also saw her earned a 102 SRF, Sister Nancy does seem poised to have another good run. Additionally, you have to go back over a year to find that last time she was not within a length of the winner. It’s a deep field, and we’ve seen the odds climb on her before and she’s paid off. That could happen again.

8- Tunted (Mb Stables, ridden by L Saez)- Mb Stables added this one to his army last September, after the mare had a lengthy career for Night Rider Stables. Initially after the sale, Tunted did not do a lot differently in her new silks, as she was always a productive horse. Then in May, she was sent to the grass for the first time in about a year and a half and took second in the Grade 3 Royal North Stakes at WO. Fourth in an optional claimer at the Spa last time out, and it will likely be Mb’s other entrant that gives him his best shot at a win here.

9- Shine To Class (Our Athletes, ridden by T Conner)- Shine To Class has not raced much in comparison to the others, but when she has, she’s been victorious. She’s the lone three-year-old in this field, and that will give her a three-pound weight allowance, something that could be very useful for a filly that knows how to get the job done. Her signature victory right now is the $300.000 Limestone Turf Sprint from KEE in April, and now this will be the first time she takes on older. That’s really the only question on her, but she certainly belongs here.

10- Stellar Stength (Mb Stables, ridden by G Corrales)- This appears to be the better of the two Mb Stables entries. The five-year-old mare by Neon Wolf has won ten of her 23 career starts and started 2025 off by winning five in a row. That streak culminated with the $400.000, Grade 3 Sidney at CD in May. Also ran well against several of these a month later in the Grade 2 Intercontinental. Figures to break well out of the gate and will look to hold until the end. Not used to starting this far to the outside, for what it’s worth.

11- Right As Rain (Alydar Stables, ridden by J L Ortiz)- When we have seen this filly, it has typically been at distances of a mile or greater. This time last year she was running in the Grade 2 SAR Oaks, as well as the $1,500.000 Dueling Ground Oaks right here in September. Now, she will cut back to a sprint for the first time in over a year, and when she has in the past, they are not career highlights. There’s simply too many in this field who’ve made a living from turf sprints to make her one of my picks, but she’s not here if the trainer didn’t think she was capable.

12- Lucky Star (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by Ar Bocachica)- Struggled in her last outing, the Grade 2 Honorable Miss Handicap at SAR, running flat from start to finish, and that will send her back to the turf. She’s hit the board in eight of eleven turf starts over her career, including a third-place effort in this very race last year. Her start right before that one was the last time she won a race, however. The type of horse to consider in trifectas, but not necessarily on top.

13- Aliens (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by D Cabrera)- Ran against Lucky Star last month in the Honorable Miss Handicap, and did better than that one, but also missed out on the purse. The difference between the two is that unlike Lucky Star, the concept of running on the turf is alien to this filly. It’s her first start on the grass, and while the trainer has been prepping her on the surface since her last race, to make your turf debut against this company is a very tough assignment.

14- Decimas Queen (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by K Roman)- After a strong three-year-old season that included a second-place effort in the KYO, Decimas Queen has been quiet as a four-year-old. In her four starts this year, the only time that she has hit the board when a third-place effort in an optional claimer at PRX on the turf. She followed that up well by taking fourth on the main track in the Grade 2 Great Lady M Stakes at LA, and since she has shown that she can handle a deep field, don’t disregard her. Still, it’s been over a year since her last win.

Prediction: 6-10-9-7

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES