Union Ave. Stakes draws five state-bred fillies
Only five statebred sprinting fillies are in the Union Avenue Stakes scheduled for 6½ furlongs today on the main track.
Only five statebred sprinting fillies could be rounded up for the $100,000 Union Avenue Stakes scheduled for 6½ furlongs today on the main track. Still, there are two encouraging facts regarding
the group. First, all five entrants are multiple stakes winners. And second, they include the first-, third- and fourth-place finishers from last year’s race.
Picco Uno, the prohibitive favorite at 4-5, won the 2017 Union Avenue by 2½ lengths. The 5-year-old Macho Uno mare has been inconsistent since but
comes into today’s race off a four-length score at six furlongs in the Dancin Renee Stakes. Picco Uno has won 3-of-5 starts at 6½ furlongs. Also, in a stat that has proved to have special relevance this rainy summer at Saratoga, she has a 2-2-1 mark in a half-dozen outings on an off track.
Bonita Bianca (3-1) is making her first start at the Union Avenue distance. After tailing off in two-turn races toward the end of last year – and being moved to another barn – the 4-year-old daughter of Curlin has made both of her starts this year at six furlongs. After winning a op-
tional claimer at Monmouth in her first start back, she finished fifth at even-money in a minor stakes at Delaware Park. Bonita Bianca has won two of her three outings on wet tracks.
Swing and Sway (7-2) has also raced well on off tracks, winning three of six. The Maclean’s Music filly won a pair of open stakes at
Oaklawn Park earlier in the year but was well-beaten in her last two races. Her fifthplace finish in the Grade 3 Vagrancy was her first try at 6½ furlongs.
Absatootly (9-2), third in last year’s Union Avenue, is off to a slow start in 2018, having been beaten by 10 lengths in both starts. With three stakes victories on her resume, however, the Mineshaft mare has some back class and has been training well at Oklahoma.
Wonderment (12-1) has
also started slowly this year after winning a pair of stakes in 2017 and finishing fourth in the Union Avenue. She cuts back in distance after three unsuccessful tries at seven furlongs, including an up-the-track finish in the Shine Again Stakes here on Aug. 1. The 5-year-old Cosmonaut mare is the only graded winner in today’s field, having won the Bourbonette Oaks (G3) on the Turfway Park polytrack two years ago.