Unbeaten Cathryn Sophia the one to beat in Keeneland’s Ashland Stakes

Cathryn Sophia is nothing if not blunt at making her feelings known.

The 3-year-old filly might look docile walking within trainer John Servis’ shedrow. And with her head hanging calmly in the corner of her stall, one might even be fooled into thinking the even-money, morning-line favorite for Saturday’s Grade I, $500,000 Central Bank Ashland Stakes at Keeneland could be deigned approachable.

It’s only when the barrage of teeth come flying that full appreciation for the filly’s capabilities is realized. As the Servis barn and her vanquished rivals would attest, you can step toward her if you want as long as the possibility of violent rejection is understood.

“Sometimes she’s great, but she’s moody,” Servis said. “And when she’s in that mood it’s not like ‘Get away from me,’ it’s ‘I’m going to hurt you.’ Sometimes in the mornings when we go in to get her, you have to have a handful of peppermints and a handful of cookies and she’ll still wheel and fire at you.

“Then if you get her in a spot where you know you’ve got her, she’ll rear up and come at you with her mouth wide open and just run you out of there.”

That go-ahead-and-try-me attitude is not something Cathryn Sophia reserves only for around the barn. Her four career starts, all victories, have yielded a combined winning margin of 41½ lengths. If she can bully past the toughest girls she has ever faced this weekend, she will be tabbed as the leading contender to take out the divisional queen bee.

More than one horseman has quipped this is a tough year to have a good 3-year-old filly. Led by the exploits of unbeaten juvenile filly champion Songbird, the sophomore ladies have been Thoroughbred racing’s deepest division this season with three of the group’s most talented set to face off in a field of five for the 1 1/16 -mile Ashland, Keeneland’s major prep for the Kentucky Oaks on May 6.

In addition to the brazen Cathryn Sophia, Grade I winner Rachel’s Valentina will be making her season debut along with Carina Mia, winner of last November’s Grade II Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs.

“This is by far the best group of horses she’s faced, by far,” Servis said. “So yeah, I’m excited to get a line on her, and it will give us a good idea of how she’ll fit in the (Kentucky) Oaks.”

While no one has gotten within sniffing distance of Songbird as she has cantered to six consecutive victories ahead of her start in Saturday’s Grade I Santa Anita Oaks, Cathryn Sophia might be the one who could look her in the eye. .

Owned by Cash is King LLC, the same connections who campaigned champion Afleet Alex, Cathryn Sophia has run everything she has faced straight into the ground. Her career debut at Parx last October was a gate-to-wire 12¾-length win, an effort she duplicated at Laurel on Dec. 5 when she cut loose for a 16¼-length victory.

The eye-opening moment for Servis came when the bay filly made her 2016 debut in the Grade II Forward Gal Stakes going 7 furlongs at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 30. That day, she broke a step slow and had to take dirt in her face for the first time, neither of which hindered her en route to a 5½-length triumph. When she stretched out to 1 mile in the Grade II Davona Dale on Feb. 27, it was another glorified workout as she advanced as she pleased under jockey Javier Castellano for a 7-length triumph.

“In her third start when she got off bad and she sat in behind horses, and she just did everything right and went on about her business,” Servis said, “I was like ‘wow’ because before, she was just running horses off their feet. It was good to see her sitting back there and relaxed and just waiting on them. She did the same thing (in the Davona Dale). She sat comfortable and when (Castellano) set her down she kicked. She’s got an amazing turn of foot.”

The Ashland will mark the first time Cathryn Sophia will try going two turns, and Servis has put in some stamina-building gallops in anticipation of the added distance.

While both Rachel’s Valentina and Carina Mia are coming off layoffs, each has prior experience at the Ashland’s distance. Rachel’s Valentina, daughter of 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, ran second to Songbird in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland last Oct. 31 while Carina Mia was a 4¼-length winner of the Golden Rod last Nov. 28.

“She’s filled out very well, she’s got a tremendous way of going and covers a lot of ground,” said Todd Pletcher, trainer of Rachel’s Valentina. “Her 2-year-old form was quite good, she unfortunately ran into a buzzsaw last year in Songbird. We’re just going to let her run her race and hope a couple of the other ones get involved and show a little speed.”

Trained by Bill Mott, Carina Mia was originally penciled in to make her return in the Grade III Honeybee at Oaklawn on March 12 but that was derailed when her base at Payson Park Training Center in Florida was put under quarantine for three weeks in March after a horse tested positive for Equine Herpesvirus-1.

“It’s not ideal circumstances, but she’s fit and she’s been breezing well,” said Doug Cauthen, vice chairman of Three Chimneys Farm, which owns Carina Mia. “You always like to have a prep under your belt when you go into that kind of race but that’s the cards that were dealt. She’s matured, strengthened and trained well. It’s a tough group this year but she’s a nice filly and we’re happy to be in the hunt with her.”

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Unbeaten Cathryn Sophia the one to beat in Keeneland’s Ashland Stakes."