Slay the Day is well suited for G3 Soaring Softly

Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing’s Slay the Day is in top form for Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Soaring Softly, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for sophomore fillies, on Closing Day of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course. 

Trained by Brain Lynch, the Into Mischief bay is 2-for-3 on turf, including a win in the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 3 Limestone on April 10 at Keeneland over next-out allowance winner Sapphire Beach and the reigning Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint-victor Cy Fair.

The latter turned the tables on Slay the Day, who settled for a one-length second after a game stretch duel, last out in the Grade 3 Mamzelle on April 30 at Churchill Downs. Slay the Day earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure in defeat, one tick off her career and field-best 92 from the Limestone. 

“I think she is coming out of two very strong races,” Lynch said. “The form around those races has been very solid. She’s been training very well and seems to be going into this race in very good order.” 

Slay the Day [post 4, John Velazquez] made her first three starts on dirt, highlighted by a pacesetting second-out graduation in November at Churchill Downs. After an optional claiming second on dirt, she won her turf bow by four lengths in March at Gulfstream Park. 

“You always hope with an Into Mischief, you could possibly come up with a nice dirt filly, so we gave her a few chances on dirt, but ultimately we swung her over to the grass at Gulfstream and she took to it,” said Lynch. “She’s been holding her form since, so we’ve kept her on this surface.”

Lynch has already secured four graded stakes wins on the year, including the Grade 1 La Troienne with Shred the Gnar, and he also has the turf sprinter Litigation entered in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Jaipur here. Bred in Kentucky by Pin Oak Stud, Slay the Day, a $170,000 purchase at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is out of the stakes-placed Tapit mare Mind Out. 

Amo Racing’s Group 2-placed Flowerhead [post 2, Edgard Zayas], in search of a return to the win column, will make her stateside debut for trainer Charlie Clover.  

The Starman bay was a 1 1/4-length runner-up in the five-furlong Group 2 Queen Mary at odds of 100-1 last June at Royal Ascot. That race’s winner, Coolmore’s True Love is now a dual Group 1-winning millionaire for trainer Aidan O’Brien, while the third-place Lennilu is a well-regarded, 6-for-9 American turf sprinter for conditioner Patrick Biancone. 

Flowerhead competed in six more British stakes since the Queen Mary, highlighted by a neck third in the five-furlong St. Hughs in August at Newbury. This year, she was off-the-board when making her seasonal debut in the five-furlong Lansdown in April at Bath and fifth in the six-furlong Chelmer Fillies last out on May 2 at Goodwood. 

“She’s doing quite well. The owner likes to flip and flop horses to where he thinks they suit best and with Flowerhead, with a disposition as a short and sharp-looking sprinter, we thought five-and-a-half on a tight-turning track could be a nice option for her,” Clover said. “She hasn’t been able to reproduce the same performance she did when she was at Royal Ascot in the Queen Mary, and we are going on a bit of a hunt to find that form back. 

“All the work has been good at home and it’s just whether or not she adapts to that American style of racing,” Clover continued. “It’s worth exploring and she has good black type form in her races. Once the season is finished, she’ll likely be part of his broodmare band out there.” 

While the filly is a newcomer to her surroundings, Clover is experienced in the states having spent time working for Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm and assisting the late trainer Christophe Clement. 

“Anyone who knew Christophe knew what a wonderful and amazing teacher and trainer he was, so we are reasonably well-versed on what we are doing out in the states,” said Clover. “I’ve sent a top assistant [Meredith Charter] out there, she’s one of the best there is and she’ll be training the horse with my say-so and keeping an eye on things.”

Flowerhead, a $48,627 purchase at the 2025 Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale, is a half-sister to Group 3-placed Vital Statistics out of Champs Elysees mare Tuileries Garden, and her second dam is Group 2-placed Emerald Peace. 

Stonestreet Stables’ Cadenza [post 3, Manny Franco] is one to keep an eye on with local experience. Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, the Charlatan chestnut graduated over course and distance last August after a pacesetting fifth earlier that month over the Spa dirt. 

Cadenza then made three starts sprinting six furlongs over the synthetic at Turfway Park, winning by one length over returning rival Hen Party in February before a second to that rival in March in the Serena’s Song. Cadenza returned to winning ways last out with a half-length score over reopposing Kingsolver in the six-furlong Take the A Train  on May 9 at Belmont at the Big A. 

“It’s a good spot,” Cox said. “She’s a stakes-winner on the turf and stakes-placed on the synthetic. I like how she physically looks and she’s coming around from that last run. I think she’ll step up.”
  
The stakes-winning Kingsolver [post 5, Ricardo Santana, Jr.], equipped with blinkers and making her grass debut in the Take the A Train, was repelled by a game Cadenza in the lane. Trained by Rodolphe Brisset, the Omaha Beach dark bay earned a career-best 78 Beyer in defeat, and now returns to the site of her victory in the six-furlong Listed Schuylerville on dirt in July. 

Kingsolver, a $95,000 OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds-in-Training Sale purchase, is out of the Speightstown mare Famous Writer, a half-sister to stakes-placed Cyber Ninja. Her second dam, the graded stakes-placed Kitten’s Joy mare Famous Alice, is a half-sister to Venezuelan-bred Group 3-winning millionaire Piacenza.

Kingsolver is named for the Pulitzer Prize-winning American essayist Barbara Kingsolver. She is campaigned by Storyteller Racing, Schroeck Racing, Open Gate Horse Ventures, Brian Cahoe, Scott Catlett, Dave Russel, Matthew Ransdell, Michael Motley and Joel Braun. 

Rounding out the field are Grade 3-placed Hen Party [post 1, Flavien Prat] for trainer Eoin Harty and Should’ve [post 6, Dylan Davis] for conditioner Wesley Ward; and maiden-winner Alpenglow [post 7, Jaime Rodriguez] for trainer Jose D’Angelo.

Niche is entered for the main track-only. 

The Soaring Softly is slated as Race 8 on Sunday’s 11-race card, which co-features the Grade 3, $300,000 Poker in Race 4. First post is 12:05 p.m. Eastern. 

America’s Day at the Races presents daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/event-info/tv-schedule. 

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