Honorable Miss runner-up Finley'sluckycharm targeting Ballerina

Finley'sluckycharm came out of her runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss in good order and is now targeting the Grade 1, $500,000 Ketel One Ballerina on August 26, trainer Bret Calhoun said outside his barn Friday morning.

Finley'sluckycharm set the early fractions in the six-furlong sprint before Paulassilverlining won by a neck in the final jumps. A talented field that included third-place finisher By the Moon provided a strong test for the 4-year-old daughter of Twirling Candy, who has six wins and two second-places finishes in her last eight starts, including Grade 3 wins in the Winning Colors and the Chicago Handicap, respectively.

"She came back great and if everything continues to look like it does now, we'll point towards the Ballerina," Calhoun said. "It seemed like she handled everything great and ran hard. She just got beat by a really good filly. No excuses. It was a good field.

"I'm prejudiced, but I think the 1-2-3 finishers are probably the three best sprint fillies in the country," he added. "We look forward to the rematch in four weeks in the Ballerina."

Galactica, a talented 2-year-old, could make his graded stakes debut in the Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special presented by Coors Light on August 13, Calhoun said. The Texas-bred son of Uncle Abbie won his first stakes start on July 22 at Lone Star Park, capturing the $100,000 colts-and-geldings division of the Texas Thoroughbred Futurity," contested at five furlongs.

Galactica won by three-quarters of a length and would be stretched out to 6 1/2 furlongs if Calhoun chooses to run him in the Saratoga Special. Calhoun said the $100,000 Skidmore on August 18 could be a possibility if he wants to try him on the turf for the 5 ½-furlong sprint.

"It's back in three weeks, so we'll have to figure out if that's enough time," Calhoun said. "He got shipped to Churchill Downs today and he's flying up here on the third. If he makes it in good order, we might make the Saratoga Special. You kind of hate to try him on the turf since he's done so well on the dirt, but it might be a softer spot than the Saratoga Special and gives us another week, so we'll see."

Galactica has won back-to-back races at Lone Star after finishing second in his debut at the track on June 9.

Source: NYRA Communications