Lovable Lady looks for fourth straight in Distaff
Lovable Lady scored the upset in the Jameela Stakes. Photo by The Racing Biz.
From a Maryland Jockey Club release
A winner of three straight races including back-to-back stakes, Lovable Lady is the 8-5 program favorite to make it four in a row in the $100,000 Distaff for fillies and mares 3 and older.
The 5-year-old Not For Love mare enters the Distaff in the best form of a career in which she has finished in the top three in 13 of 14 starts, including six wins. She won a third-level optional claiming allowance going six furlongs on the Pimlico dirt June 18 and came back to post a 10-1 upset in the Aug. 20 Jameela, contested at six furlongs on the grass.
Last time out, Lovable Lady rated in mid-pack over Laurel’s sloppy, sealed main track before moving up to challenge at the top of the stretch and edging clear to a one-length win in the six-furlong Politely Oct. 1 under regular rider Horacio Karamanos, who will be aboard from Post 11 at highweight of 121 pounds.
“She was a little bit too close in the very beginning. She likes to drop back and come on, but it all worked out. When she does break on top and so close, it is hard to get her back but he did a great job. He said he only hit her twice just to go by,” Laurel fall meet-leading trainer Mary Eppler said. “She’s doing great.”
Third in last year’s Distaff, My Magician also exits the Politely where she rallied up the rail to pass horses for fourth. Eighth in the Jameela following a nightmarish trip, she set the pace before fading to fifth in an optional claimer Sept. 9.
“She’s doing good. She’s been a little off her form this year and she seems to do a little better when the temperatures aren’t so bad. Hopefully that’s been the case and she can have a chance in this race,” trainer Mike Trombetta said. “It seems that she struggles when it’s really, really hot. She kind of ran a lot better last time and it was a much cooler day. I just thought she could possibly round back into form.”
Rounding out the field are Six Tonsafun, Rockin Jojo, Scip’s Sonata, Nickrocksforpops, Rocky Policy, Pinkout, Wowhatabrat, She Rolls and Cee Bee Gee Bee. Maryland-breds Deliver Me, Moon Virginia and If I Was a Boy are entered as also-eligibles.
