Fiftyshadesofgold puts her perfect two-for-two mark at Churchill Downs on the line in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Dogwood Stakes for sophomore fillies.
A smashing eight-length winner of last summer's Debutante beneath the Twin Spires, the Bret Calhoun trainee prevailed over Milam in the Eight Belles at this track and seven-furlong trip on May 2. Fiftyshadesofgold has performed creditably over longer, as evidenced by her distant second to Untapable in the March 29 Fair Grounds Oaks and her fourth in the June 7 Acorn.
But the Texas-bred is arguably better suited to this distance. Her only loss at seven furlongs came last time out in the prestigious Test Stakes at Saratoga, where she set a pressured pace before tiring late for fourth, beaten all of a length. Fiftyshadesofgold has fired a couple of bullets ahead of this class drop, and she looms as the one to beat with a returning Robby Albarado.
Two of her rivals are also exiting the Test -- sixth-placer Thank You Marylou, who was named by the Ramseys in honor of Marylou Whitney, and eighth Bird Maker, a Marylou Whitney homebred. Thank You Marylou has flashed talent without quite delivering on the big stage, but the equipment change to blinkers could sharp the Michael Maker filly's focus. The Ian Wilkes-trained Bird Maker sports a two-for-three record at Churchill, reflecting a maiden score last November, a second in the Golden Rod and an 11-length allowance rout two starts back on May 25.
Milam, who came up a half-length short of upsetting Fiftyshadesofgold in the Eight Belles, has been a fairly consistent performer for Eddie Kenneally. Since her fourth to Untapable in the 1 1/16-mile Pocahontas here a year ago, the daughter of Street Sense has stuck to sprinting. She rebounded from a rare clunker in the January 4 Old Hat to crush the February 22 Pica Slew at Calder by eight lengths, and most recently finished a closing third in the June 29 Victory Ride. Corey Lanerie rode her to a Churchill allowance win last fall, and regains the mount.
Tom Amoss sends out Kiss to Remember, successful in a course-and-distance allowance on June 22. The Maggi Moss colorbearer rolled in the grassy Battle of New Orleans at Fair Grounds earlier this season, and two starts ago, she was second in the off-the-turf Indiana Grand.
Henny Jenney, the winner of the Inaugural at Presque Isle Downs May 11, has been predominantly a turf and synthetic type so far. Although she was a poor fourth in the Blue Mountain Juvenile Fillies at Penn National in her only previous try on dirt, and still has something to prove on the surface, the William Connelly pupil has been training forwardly at Churchill.
Rounding out the 10-filly field are Enjoy the Family, Platinum Lady, Mizzen Miss and Honey's Ryan, who are moving up considerably in class from their last outings in allowances.