Katie M’lady has been racing so long that her first stakes win came at Arlington Park, which held its last meeting in 2021.
Katie M’lady has been racing so long that on June 24 she won a race that was named after her – the Katie M’lady.
The story goes that Hawthorne believed Katie M’lady had been retired from racing earlier that year. Her trainer, Michele Boyce, tells a different story, that she’d always intended to campaign Katie M’lady during 2024. Supporting that contention: Katie M’lady returned for her 7-year-old campaign in June, winning the Illini Princess – the race that had borne her name a year earlier.
Yet, as long as Katie M’lady has been around, she’s got nothing on Another Mystery, who cleared the maiden ranks at defunct Arlington way back in spring 2019. Like the 7-year-old mare, the 9-year-old gelding still is going, not nearly the horse he once was, but still the 9-5 morning-line second choice behind 8-5 favorite Katie M’lady in the $75,000 Buck’s Boy Stakes on Sunday at Hawthorne.
The two have met once before, in the Carey Memorial last September at Hawthorne, where Katie M’lady, who probably prefers her turf courses firm and fast, got into a pace duel over yielding ground, holding second but passed in the final furlong by onrushing Another Mystery.
Another Mystery gave Katie M’lady three pounds in the Carey but concedes six to her in the Buck’s Boy, which is restricted to Illinois-breds and drew seven entrants. The only other real pace player in the 1 1/16-mile contest is Journey, who also hails from the Boyce barn and thus will not be getting in Katie M’lady’s way, if she’s even fast enough to do so, which is unlikely.
Katie M’lady has worked regularly since July 17, and with a comfortable lead, as well as a meaningful weight break from Another Mystery, might prove uncatchable. Another Mystery as recently as December finished a good third in the $100,000 Buddy Diliberto, an open turf route stake at Fair Grounds, but two of his last three races, including his most recent, fell short of that level. And Another Mystery’s win May 11 while racing for a $60,000 claiming tag at Hawthorne owed much to a pace collapse in front of him.
Joining the aging Team Block homebred gelding in the gate comes his Chris Block-trained stablemate Towering Storm, who defeated Another Mystery on July 3 before turning in a flat Ellis Park turf showing just 16 days ago. Towering Storm stands a decent chance of rebounding in the Buck’s Boy – but a less decent chance of running down Katie M’lady.
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