Entries for the $100,000 Satin and Lace Stakes, to be run Monday at Presque Isle Downs, were taken six days prior to the race, on a Tuesday. But as of early Friday afternoon, the field for the race was still taking shape.
An overflow field of 13 fillies and mares – 12 may run – was entered for the six-furlong sprint on the Tapeta in Erie, Pa. The Satin and Lace is the local prep for the Grade 2, $300,000 Presque Isle Masters on Sept. 19.
Three of those in the main body of this field were cross-entered. A key one who appears likely to run in Pennsylvania is Gal in a Rush, who was a stakes scratch by trainer Miguel Clement from Friday’s Smart and Fancy Stakes at Saratoga.
Come to Mama finished third in an allowance-optional claiming race on Wednesday at Presque Isle and presumably won’t wheel back in five days. B G Warrior, a three-time stakes winner on Tapeta at Turfway Park, was cross-entered here and in an allowance on Saturday at Indiana, where she was second in the Clarksville Handicap last out.
As of early Friday afternoon, trainer Rodolphe Brisset said that a final decision as to where the mare would run had not yet been made. Watching the developments is Song of Norway, the lone also-eligible for the Satin and Lace.
Ms. Tart, who drew the rail for Kevin Rice, and Gal in a Rush, who drew post 12 in the main body in this field, are the two in this race with graded stakes form in 2025. Gal in a Rush, the narrow morning-line favorite, won last year’s Grade 3 Hendrie on Woodbine’s Tapeta and was third in the Presque Isle Masters. Although she is winless this year, she was second in the Grade 3 Whimsical at Woodbine to the talented Earhart – a race in which Ms. Tart was third.
Ms. Tart was claimed for $35,000 by Rice out of a win in January at Gulfstream, and has won three of seven starts for her new connections. After running third in the Whimsical, she won the Grade 3 Royal North on the Woodbine turf. Since then, she was 10th in the Grade 2 Nassau stretching out to a mile and fourth in the Grade 3 Hendrie.
Both of the favorites want to close, while the majority of this field appears to want to run in the second or third position, which could lead to a battle up front as they sort out who inherits the lead. Among that pack could be locally based Mitole Magic, who may offer value in her third start of the year.
In her first outing in seven months, Mitole Magic was third at the allowance level behind Heart, who has never missed the board at Presque Isle, and next-out winner Foxxy Cleopatra, who was most recently stakes-placed at Ellis Park. In her next outing, Mitole Magic scored a win over fellow Satin and Lace entrants Frolic in the Park and Come to Mama.
Princess Runaway is coming off an allowance win locally in which she earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 79. That is narrowly the best last-out figure in this field, as Ms. Tart and B G Warrior both recently posted a 78 and Gal in a Rush earned a 75 last out.
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