Julia Shining steps up to Ky. Oaks points prep in Demoiselle

Julia Shining, a full sister to champion 3-year-old filly and Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Malathaat, will make the step up to stakes company for her first try against winners in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle, a nine-furlong main track test for juvenile fillies at Aqueduct.

The Demoiselle offers 10-4-3-2-1 qualifying points for the Kentucky Oaks (G1).

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, who will look to win this event for the third consecutive year, Julia Shining was an impressive debut winner on Oct. 16 at Keeneland in a seven-furlong maiden special weight. The bay daughter of Curlin broke evenly from post 4 of 12 and dropped back to 11th as she struggled with taking dirt from her rivals. With a strong ride from Luis Saez, Julia Shining swung five wide in the turn and made up ground with giant strides to claim the lead at the stretch call and coast home a 2 3/4-length winner in a final time of 1:29.43.

Pletcher said he was particularly impressed by Julia Shining’s ability to widen her margin.

“I thought she was kind of hopeless at the five-eighths pole. She did what a lot of first-timers do when they get hit with that wave of dirt,” Pletcher said. “She was just climbing trying to get away from it. Finally, when Luis pulled her out, she made that huge middle wide move that was impressive, but most horses who do that kind of hang in the end. For her to keep going and polish it off was impressive.”

Julia Shining, a Stonestreet Stables homebred, will look to follow in the footsteps of her accomplished sister Malathaat, who captured the 2020 Demoiselle. Julia Shining and Malathaat would be the first siblings to capture the prestigious Demoiselle since full sisters Coquette in 1914 and Celandria in 1915 took back-to-back editions.

Pletcher said both Julia Shining and Malathaat, who are out of the multiple graded stakes-winning mare Dreaming of Julia, show professionalism on the track.

“Physically, they’re a little bit different, but they’re both very impressive fillies to watch train and she’s shown talent from the beginning,” said Pletcher. “I always felt like the further she gets the opportunity to go, the better she’ll get. That’s why we have been pointing for the Demoiselle.”

Julia Shining has posted four works over Belmont Park’s dirt training track since her maiden score, most recently covering a half-mile in 49.05 seconds on Saturday.

Saez retains the mount from post 3.

Pletcher will also saddle stakes-winning New York-bred Gambling Girl, who won the Joseph A. Gimma against fellow state-breds on Sept. 23 at Belmont at the Big A. The daughter of Dialed In was last seen finishing a troubled fourth in the one-mile state-bred Maid of the Mist as the post-time favorite where she was bumped hard at the break and struggled to improve position when five wide in the turn.

The Maid of the Mist was the first time beyond sprint distances for Gambling Girl, who will look for a fairer chance at a stretch out in the Demoiselle as she makes her open company debut.

“We thought for sure she was going to improve with added distance, and it just didn’t work out that day,” said Pletcher. “They didn’t come back to her much. She’s been training good and she’s straightforward.”

Gambling Girl will exit post 6 in rein to Irad Ortiz Jr.

Foggy Night arrives at the Demoiselle from a game runner-up effort to Good Sam in the one-mile Tempted on Nov. 6 at the Big A. Trained by Butch Reid Jr., Foggy Night entered the Tempted from an eye-catching 11 1/4-length victory going one mile and 70 yards in October at Parx Racing, where she set the pace under Paco Lopez and drew away rounding the final turn. The effort was awarded a field-best 73 Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form.

Lopez returned to pilot the Khozan filly in the Tempted and put pressure on Good Sam through the first half-mile but was bested in the turn and defeated 3 1/2 lengths by her rival. Reid said he was pleased with the performance from Foggy Night, who breezed a half-mile in 50.67 seconds over the Parx main track Saturday.

“She came back with a real nice breeze and she’s coming into the race perfectly,” said Reid “A mile and an eighth is a natural distance for her. It’s hard to say what they’re going to be like in the beginning, but she’s a big, rangy filly and has a nice, big stride on her. Anything is possible with her.”

Lopez has the call again from post 1.

Completing the field are the maiden Affirmative Lady (post 5, John Velazquez) for conditioner Graham Motion and a trio of maiden winners in Royal Spa (post 2, Joel Rosario) for trainer Rodolphe Brisset, La Vita Sofia (post 4, Manny Franco) for trainer Rudy Rodriguez and Tribal Queen (post 7, Eric Cancel) for trainer Tony Dutrow.