Hereforagoodtime appears to be rounding into good form for the Grade 3, $400,000 Pucker Up Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Sunday on the Ellis Park turf. Also back in good form is her jockey Tyler Gaffalione.
Gaffalione was sidelined in late March after breaking his left ankle at Gulfstream Park. He returned to the races on July 19 at Ellis Park and swept a pair of local stakes his first weekend back, the Jeff Hall Memorial on July 20 with Banishing and the Twin Bridges Stakes with Asternia the following day. Overall, he has ridden six winners in his comeback from 13 mounts through July 31.
Gaffalione is gearing up for a return to the lucrative Kentucky Downs meeting, and this weekend is a prime time to do so. It is Kentucky Downs preview weekend at Ellis Park. The winner of the Pucker Up receives an automatic, fees-paid berth into the Grade 3, $2 million Dueling Grounds Oaks on Sept. 10.
Gaffalione has won outright or tied for the jockey title at Kentucky Downs four of the last five years.
“That was kind of our goal going into this meet,” Gaffalione told track publicity. “We got a late start coming back, so we figured Ellis Park [rather than Saratoga] would be the best fit . . . to try to build business back for Kentucky Downs. . . . We’ve been fortunate to have had some success in the past. My agent [Matt Muzikar] does a great job. The horsemen do a great job bringing the horses over ready, and the horses have been showing up. It’s a fun place to ride, and I look forward to it every year.”
Hereforagoodtime, trained by Brendan Walsh, is one of just two fillies in this field of 10 with graded stakes form this season. She moved to turf this year, and her two most recent efforts have been her best.
After an allowance/optional claiming win in May at Churchill Downs, she stepped up to graded company for the first time in the Grade 3 Regret Stakes on May 31. She improved her position to finish third, 1 1/2 lengths back, in what turned out to be a key race. Winner Fionn went on to hand the stellar Nitrogen her first defeat of the season in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks.
The other filly in here with graded stakes form this season is Deloraine for Eoin Harty. When last seen on turf, she was third in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks to Nitrogen and Lush Lips – the latter a stakes winner last out once she got away from Nitrogen. Deloraine has made her two most recent starts on dirt, finishing third in the Grade 3 Gazelle and fourth in the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks. Those recent efforts have made her perhaps a value play, at 10-1, as she moves back to perhaps a better surface.
Hereforagoodtime is the third choice on the morning line at 4-1 behind the lightly raced Destino d’Oro, the 3-1 morning-line favorite. The filly won her debut and was a close third in the Grade 2 Jessamine last year. She won her comeback in June, taking an allowance race against older foes.
Ladies Turf Mile Preview
The $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf Mile on Sunday gives older fillies and mares the chance to earn an automatic berth in a rich Kentucky Downs race. The race leads into the Grade 3, $2 million Ladies Turf on Aug. 30.
Simply in Front defeated a solid field to win the Grade 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile. Jumping into deeper waters and dealing with a yielding course, she then finished fifth in the Grade 1 Just a Game in New York, and merits a look dropping back in class.
Gaffalione and Walsh team up again with the consistent Austere – a winner at both Ellis and Kentucky Downs in 2023. She is three-time stakes-placed this season. Walsh also saddles Waves of Mischief, who is looking for her first win since last year’s Pucker Up.
The morning-line favorite is Pharoah’s Wine, winner of back-to-back races at the allowance level at Churchill.
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