Nice as Pie to perform Serena’s Song on March 30, 2024 at Turfway Park (Coady Media)
Maria Eddy
Ozone Park, NY – Trainer Kelsey Danner won two of her four stakes starters at Aqueduct Racetrack this fall, and will continue her success here with Delicious as cake in Sunday’s $150,000 Forever Together, a 1 1/16-mile outdoor turf test for fillies and mares 3 years and older.
Danner took the Grade 2 Miss Grillo on October 4 with Ground Support en route to a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and most recently won the Stewart Manor with Map of the Moon on November 7. Additionally, Danner finished second with Otago in the Listed Artie Schiller on October 11.
Dede McGehee’s Kentucky bred Nice as Pie [post 2, Ricardo Santana, Jr.] coming in from a third of 2 1/4 lengths to Candy Reward in the one-mile, 70-meter HBPA on Oct. 6 over the synthetic at Presque Isle Downs. The effort came in her furthest race yet, and at a distance beyond sprinting for the third time in her career.
Danner noted that Tapiture’s 4-year-old daughter demonstrated her skill on a course last year when she edged Poolside With Slim in the 1-mile Penn Oaks at Penn National, where she rallied from last of 10 to just miss in an effort that was awarded a career-best 87 Beyer Speed Figure.
“I thought her best race last year was a long race on the grass, but we just haven’t really had a chance to do it again,” Danner said. “I’m curious to see her on the grass again for a long time. She’s having one of her better numbers, but I think she’ll be fine either way.”
Nice as Pie enjoyed a productive campaign last season, starting with four consecutive wins in the Turfway Park Tapeta sprint, including wins in the Valdale and Serena’s Song. She again stretched to a mile for a far off-the-board finish in the Grade 2 Valley View at Keeneland last October, but recovered to post four straight efforts on the board at Turfway, which included her most recent victory in a February optional claimer that sprinted six furlongs.
“She runs her race every time,” Danner said. “I thought she ran well last time and that it wasn’t a super fast group to run into, but I thought it was a good effort. She doesn’t like to take the lead and is always late at the starting gate, but that’s just Pie. That’s not going to change at the moment.”
The bay filly is out of the Include mare How Nice, who also produced the Danner-trained stakes winner Smokin’ Jay. Nice as Pie has collected $448,633 via a lifetime record of 18-5-3-3.
Five-time Eclipse Award-winning conditioner Chad Brown sends out the pair of double-ranked stakes Oversubscribed [post 7, Manny Franco] and stake winner Malleymoo [post 4, Dylan Davis].
Klaravich Stables’ Oversubscribed, a four-year-old Too Darn Hot filly, returns from a break of more than a year dating back to a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Pebbles here. That effort capped off a year that included a win in the local Listed Wild Applause in June, and a close second-place finish in the Class 3 Lake George at Saratoga Race Course.
LSU Stables’ Malleymoo has finished on the board in each of her last five appearances, with her last three being her first starts for Brown after moving from the barn of the late Christophe Clement. Finally, on October 9 at Keeneland, she finished a three-quarter second behind Reagan’s Flame in compensation for this distance. The 5-year-old English Channel mare looks to add a second stakes victory to her tally after winning the 2023 Listed Penn Oaks for trainer Jack Sisterson.
by Jayne McGivern Sirona [post 3, Jaime Rodriguez] shortened the distance after a final sixth-place finish in the 1 3/8 mile Grade 3 Waya on October 5 here. Trained by Graham Motion, 5-year-old Soldier Hollow Bay made her first 20 starts in Europe and moved to the United States this summer. She finished second in the Laurel Park nine-furlong All along on September 13, landing a nose behind stablemate No Show Sammy Jo, who recently finished second in the Grade 3 Long Island here.
“Her owner was afraid to stretch her out last time – I thought it was something she could deal with here in America, but I think it was a little further than she wanted to go,” Motion said. “In a perfect world you might go to a mile and an eighth, but there are only so many options this time of year.”
The German-bred Sirona placed in three Group 3 divisions in England and France, including a third-place half-length finish at the Chartwell Fillies at Lingfield last May. Her resume also includes two stakes wins at 7 1/2 furlongs and one mile, respectively, as part of a 22-4-6-1 record with $216,450 in earnings.
The field is completed by the New York-bred stakes winner Rotating colors [post 5, John Velazquez] for trainer Mark Hennig, at the stakes Flowers for me [post 6, Javier Castellano] for trainer Jim Ryerson, and double winner Mrs. Bonnie T [post 1, Christopher Elliott] For trainer Antonio Arriaga.
St. Benedicts Prep, Bernietakescharge and Tipple are registered for the main event only.
Scheduled as Race 7 on Sunday’s nine-race card, the Forever Together honors 2008 champion Grass Mare who won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf for George Strawbridge, Jr.’s Augustin Stables that year. Sunday’s schedule also includes the Grade 3, $175,000 Pebbles in Race 3. The first post is at 12:10 PM Eastern.
America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack fall meet on the FOX Sports networks. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.
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