Too Much Kiki, who is the reigning Texas-bred of the year, may have opened a new career chapter for herself last month with her runner-up finish in the $100,000 Memorial Day Sprint at Lone Star Park.
She finished two lengths behind winner Mystic Lake, a multiple Grade 2 winner and earner of more than $1 million who could make her next start at Saratoga in the Honorable Miss.
It was a rare start against open company for Too Much Kiki, whose six career stakes wins have come in restricted races in Texas. She is a 4-year-old who is 8 for 14 for earnings of $374,669 for owner Mansfield Racing. Too Much Kiki earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 87 in the Memorial Day Sprint.
“She’s obviously always been consistent and solid, but until her last two races, she’d never really stepped up and thrown any significant speed figures,” trainer Bret Calhoun said. “I think she got her little vacation and she’s come back a better horse. You’re surprised to find one of the caliber in there that she faced the other day, but with that being said, it’s starting to show that she’s belonging with better than just Texas-breds. Luckily, there’s one more Texas-bred spot [at Lone Star] we’ll get to run her in, then we’ll go from there. Obviously, she’ll be facing some open company for a while, but I think the race the other day gives you a little confidence that that’s a possibility for her.”
Calhoun said the $75,000 Valor Farm Stakes on July 5 is the next target for Too Much Kiki. The race is for Texas-bred fillies and mares at six furlongs. Following the meet, she probably will go to Kentucky, said Calhoun, but he also will be looking over her stakes options at Remington Park.
Calhoun said against open company, races at six and seven furlongs seem like the right fit for Too Much Kiki. He likes how she’s stepped up her game of late.
“I was always hopeful that she could move forward, and I think she finally has,” he said. “She’s a really big filly and it’s just taken her a little bit longer to be able to carry that big frame around.”
Too Much Kiki is 3 for 4 so far in 2025. She is by Too Much Bling and out of the Action This Day mare Soft Music. She was bred by Danele Durham.
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