Nickname, Carina Mia Top Field of Eight in Eight Belles
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LNJ Foxwoods’ Nickname, winner of the Frizette (GI) last fall and Three Chimneys Farm’s Carina Mia, winner of the Golden Rod (GII) here last fall, top a field of eight fillies entered for the 61st running of the $200,000 Eight Belles (GII) for 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs.
The Eight Belles will go as the seventh race with a 2:08 p.m. post time.
Trained by Steve Asmussen, Nickname comes into the Eight Belles off a runner-up effort in the Beaumont (GIII) at Keeneland. Javier Castellano has the mount Friday and will break from post position eight.
Trained by Bill Mott, Carina Mia finished fourth in the Central Bank Ashland (GI) at Keeneland in her 2016 debut behind Kentucky Oaks entrants Weep No More, Rachel’s Valentina and Cathryn Sophia.
Julien Leparoux, who has ridden Carina Mia in all four of her starts, has the riding assignment Friday and will break from post position five.
Main challengers to Nickname and Carina Mia are Marquee Miss and Stageplay.
Rags Racing Stable’s Marquee Miss, a three-time stakes winner trained by Ingrid Mason, comes into the race off a third-place finish in the Bourbonette Oaks (GIII) at Turfway Park. Channing Hill has the mount and will break from post position one.
Mike Rutherford’s Stageplay, winner of the Rags to Riches here last fall and the Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds in January for Asmussen, most recently was sixth in the Fair Grounds Oaks (GII). Ricardo Santana Jr. has the mount and will break from post position seven.
The field for the Eight Belles, with riders and weights from the inside, is: Marquee Miss (Hill, 120 pounds), Jade Princess (Victor Espinoza, 118), Summer Reading (Luis Saez, 118), Put Da Blame On Me (Corey Lanerie, 118), Carina Mia (Leparoux, 118), Blip n’ Th Bye (Florent Geroux, 118), Stageplay (Santana Jr., 120) and Nickname (Castellano, 123).
Source: Churchill Downs
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