The Orchid (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
GP- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Half on the Inner Turf
April 1, 2023

Only five horses have made their way to GP for the 19th running of the Grade 3 Orchid, but don’t worry, there is plenty of talent within the field. One of them is a horse that has won this race three times already. Impressively, Maggie Greene won the Orchid from 2019 through 2021 before having to settle for second last year. It would truly be an amazing accomplishment for her to win four out of five, but she’ll have strong competition here. One of the horses that she will not see is the one that beat her last year, the Rampage Stable owned Into The Darkness. She would race through October, but snapping Maggie Greene’s streak would be her last hurrah and final trip to the winner’s circle. She’s now retired and has produced two foals. Will one of these other four send Maggie Greene into the darkness again, or will she experience the light of victory? Here’s the field!

#1- Stellar Agent (Night Rider Stables, ridden by E J Zayas)- She was certainly stellar over the summer and early fall last year, including a win in the Grade 1 Taylor Stakes, where La Terrifiant was one of the ones she knocked off. Since then, she’s been pretty bad. Was a complete non factor in the BC, but yes, that’s against the best of the best. Then, was equally poor in the Pegasus Fillies and Mares Turf. Okay, now after a few months, hopefully she has caught her breath and can bounce back here against lighter competition. It’ll be interesting to see how she rebounds: were the last two races just a result of the competition level, or is she possibly “losing it?”

#2- Common Misconception (Nakamura Stables, ridden by F T Alvarado)- This five-year-old mare has been a regular participant in this type of race classification, and a string of mostly consistent performances has allowed her to accumulate over $1,300.000 in her lifetime. One of races that she was recently in was the Pegasus Fillies and Mares Turf, and she was much better than Stellar Agent there: placing third. Her last time running a mile and a half was a victory in Grade 3 Dowager at KEE last October.

#3- Maggie Greene (The Sidley Stud, ridden by M Franco)- All eyes will be on Maggie Greene as she takes part in the Orchid, looking to win the race for the fourth time in five years. But should we be considering the eight-year-old mare the favorite here in reality? Her accolades are impressive: with 18 victories in 62 career starts and making over $4,400.000 during her time on the track. If you look at her last nine starts, there is only one win in there (The Grade 3 Noble Damsel) at AQU and more out of the money finishes than we have typically seen. Then again, she was also third in the Grade 1 Matriarch in December. Also consider that she has only had 2 1/2 weeks of rest since her prior start.

#4- Sin City Girlz (Czech Out Farms, ridden by S Elliott)- This had been a horse that was making her living running in WV-bred races, though only tried one of those stakes once. For the most part, she ran well in those overnights, but when she took on unrestricted company, she was less impressive. Ultimately, this led to her being claimed for $7.500. Since arriving with Czech Out Farms, the light has turned on for her, and she has gone three for three, all in unrestricted races. The eye opener came her last start, where she won the Grade 3 Very One right here at the beginning of March. By the way, she didn’t just win, she won it by four lengths. It is appealing to ride the hot hand here, which I’m gonna do.

#5- Moccacindy (Arindel, ridden by C J Hernandez)- Speaking of a hot hand, here is a lightly raced filly, which just five starts to her name thus far. She is certainly at her best right now though, with three consecutive wins, all in overnights. Unlike Sin City Girlz, one of those races is not at a high level. Instead, she’s been winning allowance at TAM, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. Her last victory was a come from behind effort that she’d end up winning by four lengths, so her stretching out to the full twelve furlongs is very appealing. Don’t look at her career earnings, compare them with the others, and think she doesn’t have a chance. She has a good shot here.

Prediction: 4-3-5-2

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES