LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A sixteenth of a mile isn’t that far, just 330 feet. It’s the difference between the one-mile Appalachian Stakes four weeks ago at Keeneland and Friday’s 1 1/16-mile Edgewood Stakes at Churchill Downs, where Imaginationthelady will need just a little more than two feet to close the gap between Storm’s Wake and her from the Appalachian.
“To be honest, I thought Imaginationthelady would need her first run back, and I thought the mile is probably as short as she needs to go,” trainer Brendan Walsh said. “I think she’ll appreciate having had the run, and the mile and a sixteenth.”
Imaginationthelady did win her debut at a mile – but that came at Kentucky Downs, where the course undulations often make races feel longer. She proceeded to win the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland and then finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at a mile at Del Mar after being bumped at the break.
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In the Grade 2 Appalachian, her first start in five months, Imaginationthelady was part of a blanket finish. Storm’s Wake, last of 10 at the halfway point and still seventh in the stretch, was up by a neck over Imaginationthelady, who closed in near tandem. Just a head back of Imaginationthelady was her stablemate Lion Lake. Just Aloof, who won both her starts at 2, including the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at a mile, was fourth, beaten a total of a half-length.
Lion Lake, who bested Storm’s Wake in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride Stakes in a previous meeting in Florida, also comes back for more Friday in the Grade 2, $600,000 Edgewood. Lion Lake is still thriving despite several close races in a row.
“She’s just been unbelievable all winter,” Walsh said. “She’s held her form and her condition all winter. She’s not giving me any reason not to run her. If anything, she’s improved.”
Walsh also saddles Indigo Woods, who has won both her starts at this distance. A debut winner on this Churchill course last October, she won the LaCombe Memorial at Fair Grounds.
“She’s done nothing wrong, so I think she’s entitled to get a shot at it,” Walsh said.
Storm’s Wake had knocked heads with her more-fancied Brian Lynch stablemate Sister Troienne – who is sitting this out in favor of a freshening for a summer campaign – all winter in Florida and was overlooked in the Appalachian, returning $45.36. That won’t be the case Friday, but she still offers value on the morning line at 6-1, with Imaginationthelady the tepid 4-1 favorite. Storm’s Wake relished the longer stretch at Keeneland than in Florida and also could enjoy the added ground here.
Lorelei Lee may be the biggest pace factor in the Edgewood. Still green and often fractious, the filly turned in her most complete effort yet when she got to go two turns for the first time in the 1 1/16-mile Bourbonette Oaks. She was allowed to get away with tepid fractions and held sway to the wire.
“Her first two races, she was very green,” trainer Mike Maker said. “And, you know, I still thought she was a little green down the stretch last time.”
Lorelei Lee’s connections have opted to go from Turfway’s Tapeta to the turf, rather than running in the Kentucky Oaks – for which she would have made the field and for which they had already paid a late nomination fee. Besides remaining on perhaps a favorable surface, the filly could get a good pace scenario. She is drawn in post 4, and there are not necessarily need-the-lead types in this field – although Just Aloof and Tam Tam, coming off a win in the 7 1/2-furlong Sanibel Island Stakes, would both prefer to be forward or stalking.
Taken by the Wind, trying turf for the first time, is the wild card. She won the Silverbulletday Stakes on the lead but did not show early foot when eighth in the Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes – afterward she was discovered to be battling a case of the thumps – and a well-beaten third in the Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes.
If the fractions are soft, it would be bad luck for a bevy of closers in here, including Storm’s Wake, Imaginationthelady, and Dandona and Time to Dream, the one-two finishers in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks.
Dandona’s only loss came in her only start at shorter than a mile – and off a layoff, to boot.
“Distance is going to be her best thing,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “Eventually, down the line, we’ll probably put her on dirt. I think she will dirt going longer. But she is on the improve and she has good spacing. If she fires her shot, she could win it.”
Completing the field are stakes-placed Bohemian, Connect the Stars, and To a Flame. Lovely Grey has drawn into the Kentucky Oaks and will scratch.
--additional reporting by David Grening
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