My Miss Aurelia Tunes Up For Mandy's Gold

Trainer Steve Asmussen is hopeful that My Miss Aurelia, the undefeated 2011 champion 2-year-old filly, can pick up where she left off when she makes her long-awaited return to the races Wednesday as a supplemental entrant in the $100,000 Mandy’s Gold overnight stakes.

“Absolutely hoping for a similar outcome,” said Asmussen of My Miss Aurelia, who broke her maiden and won the Grade 2 Adirondack at the Spa, followed by victories in the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont Park and the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. “I definitely think she is a worthy 2-year-old champion, and I’m anxious to have her back to the races.”

My Miss Aurelia, who was sidelined for the first part of her 3-year-old campaign with a minor shin injury, turned in an easy maintenance breeze Sunday, working four furlongs in 49.98 seconds on the Oklahoma training track.

Julien Leparoux will ride her in the Mandy’s Gold, which attracted a field of seven, including Srumdiddlyumptious, a winner of four of her past five starts, including back-to-back stakes scores at Monmouth and Penn National, as well as Ullapool, a solid second to the promising Book Review in an allowance July 20 at the Spa.

Asmussen added that 3-year-old Macho Macho came out of his upset victory over Hansen in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby on Saturday tired but in good shape. The trainer said he would take his time before making any decision about running back in the Grade 1, $1 million Travers on August 25 at the Spa.

“He ran hard yesterday,” Asmussen said. “He’s scheduled to be back [at Saratoga] this afternoon. You want to give the race [the West Virginia Derby] the respect it deserves, from an effort standpoint. They didn’t come home fast the last eighth of a mile [13.23 seconds], but when he got to Hansen in 1:11 and change, he’d done some work there. He’s been knocking on the door and to get through at the right time, I was very proud of him. He earned it. It puts him in position with the 3-year-old races to finish out the year and for us to use our heads and take advantage of his ability.”