Maryland-Bred Southampton Way Leads Field of Nine in $200,000 Spendthrift Juvenile Filly Stallion Stakes

Oct 26, 2017 Churchill Downs Communications

Sagamore Farm’s Maryland-based homebred Southampton Way will invade Kentucky as the headliner in a field of nine 2-year-old fillies for Sunday’s inaugural running of the $200,000 Spendthrift Juvenile Filly Stallion Stakes at Churchill Downs.

The seven-furlong contest, carded as Race 9 on Churchill Downs’ “Stars of Tomorrow I” card, has a scheduled post time of 5 p.m. (all times Eastern). The 11-race card also includes the $200,000 Spendthrift Juvenile Stallion Stakes, $80,000 Street Sense Overnight Stakes and $80,000 Rags to Riches Overnight Stakes. The first race is 1 p.m.

The Spendthrift Juvenile Filly Stallion Stakes – made possible through a partnership between Churchill Downs and Lexington, Ky.-based breeding operation Spendthrift Farm – is a lucrative contest for 2-year-old female offspring sired by any active or non-active Spendthrift stallion, including all Spendthrift-owned stallions standing regionally in North America. The purse has been structured with a unique approach to award $100,000 to the owners of the placed horses, with the other $100,000 allocated to award the breeders of the first-thru-fourth-place finishers. Specifically, the winning breeder will earn $40,000, with $30,000 going to the breeder of the runner-up, $20,000 for third, and $10,000 for fourth.

Trained by Horacio DePaz, Southampton Way is the most experienced filly in the field with five starts including a one-length maiden victory at Saratoga on July 21, which was followed by a runner-up effort in the $200,000 Adirondack (Grade II). The daughter of Into Mischief is no stranger to shipping around the country as she tested the Arlington-Washington Futurity on Sept. 9 at Arlington Park that resulted in a second-place effort. Most recently, Southampton Way was unsuccessful in the $200,000 Miss Grillo Stakes (GIII) at Belmont Park on Oct. 1 but has been training steadily at DePaz’ home base of Laurel Park.

Among Southampton Way’s chief rivals is Bill and Corrinne Heiligbrodt’s Mia Mischief, a flashy 16 ¼ length winner in her second career start at Keeneland for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Bred at Spendthrift Farm, Mia Mischief was purchased for $300,000 at the 2017 Fasig Tipton March Sale. Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. is signed on to ride Mia Mischief and will break from post position 2.

The field from the rail out (with jockey): Southampton Way (Robby Albarado); Mia Mischief (Santana); Aerial Assets (Julien Leparoux); Cinema Doll (Brian Hernandez Jr.); Foxy Mischief (Jon Court); Breaking Beauty (Channing Hill); Wendy Peffercorn (Eddie Perez); Bibbidibobbidi Boo (Marcelino Pedroza); and Sultry (Corey Lanerie).