Statebred stakes trio on marathon card

A trio of $50,000 Massachusetts-bred stakes races headline a massive 15-race card on Sunday at Suffolk Downs.

Seven older males are entered in the Last Dance Stakes, going one mile and 70 yards, including last year’s winner, Dr Blarney.

Since taking the 2016 Last Dance, Dr Blarney has become an imposing figure among the Massachusetts-bred ranks, winning each of his five starts at Suffolk Downs by seven lengths or more. The 4-year-old Dublin gelding most recently tore apart the Rise Jim Stakes at Suffolk on July 9, leading the race at every point of call and drawing away to win by nine lengths.

Regular rider Tammi Piermarini will once again have the mount aboard Dr Blarney for owner Joseph DiRico and trainer Karl Grusmark.

Grady, who has finished behind Dr Blarney in three of their last four meetings, will square off against his rival again. Luis Perez will ride the 7-year-old Got the Last Laugh gelding for owner Cappy-Tavey Stable and trainer Dylan Clarke.

The counterpart race for older fillies and mares is the First Episode Stakes, where a field of seven will also run a mile and 70 yards.

Princess Dream brings the most momentum into the race, coming off an 11 1/2-length romp in the Isadorable Stakes on July 9 at Suffolk. The 4-yearold Freud filly stretches out beyond six furlongs for the first time, but she enters with a two-race winning streak that started in a Finger Lakes allowance on June 17, when she won by a driving half-length.

Trainer Jonathan Buckley will give Joel Sone the leg up aboard Princess Dream for owner Patricia Moseley.

Last year’s winner, the 5-year-old Zong mare Jeb, returns to defend her title off a gate-to-wire four-length score in a July 9 optional claimer at Suffolk. She has won all three of her starts at the Boston-area track, including last year’s First Episode by three-quarters of a length.

Perez will have the mount for owner Cappy-Tavey Stable and trainer Clarke.

The card’s closing race is the Louise Kimball Stakes, where

a field of four sophomores will contest six furlongs in a nonwagering event.

The towering favorite is Frosty Nurse, who set the pace in the African Prince Stakes on July 8 at Suffolk but was caught late to finish second by threequarters of a length. All four horses in the field are maidens, but Frosty Nurse has placed in two stakes, having also finished second in the Norman Hall Stakes for Massachusetts-bred juveniles last year at Finger Lakes.

Piermarini will ride Frosty Nurse for owner DiRico and trainer Grusmark.