The Athenia ($150.000 Purse)
AQU- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Inner Turf
October 19, 2024
A field of seven will be heading to the starting gate for the 20th running of The Athenia, a onetime graded stake that lost its Grade 3 designation in 2023. Purses have generally been constant in the $100.000 to $200.000 over the history of the race. None of the past winners of the race particularly jump out at me, but perhaps I am just overlooking something. Last year’s winner was Scalp, who is likely every bit as good as any of those other past winners. Under the guidance of Spankys Barn, her career earnings are approaching $700.000. She remains active, though could use a jolt of positive form. Here is our field this time around:
1- Southern Wolf (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by J Alvarado)- Picked up by the trainer for $50.000 in a claimer in February, and has been making regular appearances in ungraded races. While she has not won any of them, she’s consistently getting a cut of the purse, so will definitely not be out of place here. Last time, she won for the first time in Mo Mentum silks, coming in an optional claimer at MTH.
2- Emily (Nakamura Stables, ridden by An Castillo)- Kudos to the trainer for his work on this one, as the filly did not do much of anything with prior trainers. She clicked right away with Nakamura, winning her first three, a streak that led her into her stake debut. While she didn’t win it, she showed she belonged and could handle stronger competition and has been consistent ever since. In June, she finally won one of the stakes, taking the $100.000 Presidents Cup at PRX.
3- Spoon Flip (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by Ru Silvera)- Typically a horse that can be counted on to finish somewhere in the top four, but when she doesn’t show up, she can have some real duds. Those bad races have lessened significantly since arriving with D J C, but she is still looking for that signature win. Ran fourth of five in an open allowance at PRX last time out.
4- Bottomless Mimosas (Mb Stables, ridden by N Juarez)- She has finishes second in her last three races, including a very narrow miss in the Grade 3 ONT Colleen Stakes up at WO. Last seen going ten furlongs in the $250.000 Wonder Where Stakes, for Canadian Breds, where she was second though beaten by two lengths. For all of these close calls, and all of the times that she has run at this level, it’s surprising that she does not have a stake win yet. Is today the day?
5- Reorganize (Czech Out Farms, ridden by D Davis)- It has not always been pretty for this Dial It In filly, but hopefully the trainer has got her figured out after her last two races. Had a strong win at the end of August in the $100.000 Mrs Penny Stakes, at PRX for PA-breds, and followed that up with a solid third at the $75.000 Miss Southern Ohio Stakes at BTP. She will need to be a little better to win this, but I think she has the ability to do so.
6- Horing Gal (Night Rider Stables, ridden by J J Castellano)- Been seeing a lot of this horse recently, and she has been struggling. It is good that she has been dropped down, because if nothing else, she needs something a little more positive than what she has been getting recently. But she’s lost by a combined 28 lengths in her last three races, therefore, I will pass.
7- Quick Twitch (Williams9, ridden by Jo Ruiz)- The trainer is on a great run right now, and perhaps Quick Twitch can be the next horse that picks up a big win for this barn. In late August, she won a FL-bred optional claimer on soft turf at GP. Interesting, she has more off track starts in her career than dry track starts, so she may think that it is supposed to be raining on race day. It will be dry here on Saturday, and it’ll be interesting to see how this filly handles it.
Prediction: 4-2-1-7
— NS
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
