RGD – Grade III

1 3/8 Mile Turf Stake Purse $250.00 Filly & Mare 3 Year Olds And Up.

Well, information is key on this game, and I was using this race as a bit of a sounding post for the progress of our three-year-olds. In years past a three-year-old claimer could get 5lbs from a five-year-old stakes winner at this time of year and win but that was changed a few years back and it looks like that update is holding for another year.

I do feel this version is more realistic, a good three-year-old can still beat the olders but it is rare and seems very much down to some sort of preprogrammed maturity level than simply the effect of weight.

So, with the two three-year-olds trailing in last and second last let’s look at the result among the older fillies and mares.

1st        Categorical Destiny   Mb Stables      Lopez P             2:11.83

This six-year-old started the season in a BTP allowance which was either a masterstroke by the champion trainer or something else. You have to see it as a masterstroke because she had disappointed in her last two starts of 2025 so maybe just needed a confidence building win to get her back in the groove. She went on after that pretty unimpressive win to run second in a couple of grade three’s but today went one better in a race that was set up for her. A very slow early pace saw her saunter to the front almost reluctantly and from there she just ran her pace and was never challenged. This brings this mare right back to her best and it will be interesting if she can continue this return to the highest level.              

2nd       Explorer            Avenue Z           Centeno D E                  2:12.42

Pace is key in these races, well that and the seemingly random choice of who takes advantage of it. The winner did that today just as this one had done in the Orchid earlier in the year and whilst she was close enough early on, she couldn’t repeat her win of last year in a race where the winner piled on too much pace and ran away from her in the end. She is a consistent sort who with the right pace and opposition she can compete at any level, but I was a little disappointed with her effort at the end today and she may just be flattening out at the age of six.

3rd        Love                    Mo Mentum Farm       Velazquez J R  2:12.76

I have always thought that this sort of trip stretches her stamina a bit and it certainly looked that way as she struggled a little down the stretch. She has run some good races this year and as a four-year-old has more time than the two that beat her so I am sure she will be winning more black type before long.

4th        Bridgit                D J C Racing Stables Fresu A              2:12.86

The third six-year-old in the top four the early pace was never strong enough as the AI took her back to her positional running stye and she was never going to be able to make ground in the second half of the race. Her early pace was either brought about by gaming buttons, stamina worries or just the random effect of the AI, unfortunately there is little we can do to determine which.           

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES