G1-placed dry powder starts ’26 in Barbara Fritchie
Was a close second in ’25 Cotillion
Press release- February 13, 2026
Over the course of seven races in just over seven months, Gold Square LLC’s Dry Powder went from an unraced filly to a horse that had earned a place in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
“We had her as a 2-year-old at Saratoga and I loved her,” trainer Chad Summers said. “She was a big filly and I felt she was too big for her own good. I didn’t want to put any pressure on her. We sent her down safe and sound and gave her 60 days off in Ocala after Saratoga. She rewarded us with a very nice campaign as a three-year-old.”
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Dry Powder, a Gun Runner filly, finished a close second in the limited Wilton Stakes at Aqueduct on June 22 and then was a well-beaten third in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga.
She broke through with a big effort in Parx’s Cathryn Sophia Stakes on August 19, winning by 4 ¼ lengths.
“That’s the race we want to see from her,” Summers said. “In a stalking position. We don’t want her to lead the way. It kept appearing that she had somehow taken the lead. For us, that was the journey we envisioned.”
Dry Powder proved that Cathryn Sophia’s effort was no fluke by finishing second, a neck behind, in Parx’s Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes on September 20.
“She was shocked for a moment [from another rider’s whip]and that probably cost her the win,” Summers said.
Dry Powder concluded her three-year-old campaign with an eighth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
While the horses battled Old Man Winter in training in the Mid-Atlantic region, Dry Powder wintered at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida.
“We gave her 45 days off after the Breeders’ Cup,” Summers explained. “She got a little bigger and a little stronger. There was a purpose in watching Barbara Fritchie, given the weather. As a trainer, I know how important rhythms are for horses, especially horses on the pole. You like to keep things in routine.”
Dry Powder is the 5-2 second choice on the Barbara Fritchie morning line.
Favorites at 9-5 are Final Turn Racing Stable’s Kasey K Racing Stable, Michael Day and Takethemoneyhoney, who have compiled a record of six wins and two seconds in eight starts for trainer Michael Moore.
Takethemoneyhoney, a 5-year-old Maryland-bred by Golden Lad, was an authoritative 6 ¼-length winner of the limited Geisha Stakes, run at one mile on Jan. 17 at Laurel.
“I think we’re up against some tougher competition,” Moore admitted. “She probably looks like the favorite in there. Hopefully she shows up with the same effort, and that makes her the horse to beat.”
Takethemoneyhoney is based at Parx, but Moore isn’t too concerned about a potential lack of fitness due to shortened practices.
“As far as racing goes, she’s been on a pretty consistent schedule, which helps,” he said. “She is the type of filly that we don’t have much to do with between races. It was a bit difficult to train regularly, but it was good to get the wind [five-eighths on February 4] in her. I think she must be good.”
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