Street Band Looks to Get Back On Track in Groupie Doll

Trainer, co-owner, and co-breeder Larry Jones hopes a class break will help Street Band return to winning form Aug. 9 at Ellis Park when the 4-year-old daughter of Istan starts from an outside post in the $100,000 Groupie Doll Stakes. Street Band will break from post 12. The race has an overflow field of 15 fillies and mares, with three also-eligibles. The one-mile Groupie Doll is one of four $100,000 stakes leading up to the featured $200,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby. The others, all contested at seven furlongs, are the Runhappy Juvenile Stakes, Runhappy Debutante Stakes for 2-year-old fillies, and the Runhappy Audobon Oaks for 3-year-old fillies. Last year, Street Band earned more than $1 million and captured the Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing. She will look to end a four-race skid dating to the Cotillion, when she rallied to post a clear victory over favored Guarana in the 1 1/16-mile race in September. Since that effort, Street Band has raced exclusively in graded stakes, placing in this year's Houston Ladies Classic Stakes (G3). She'll be making her first start since a fourth-place finish in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) in April at Oaklawn Park. Jones has yet to see improvement this season from Street Band. "I think she had reached her peak early fall last year, late summer," Jones said. "She was really doing well. She's doing just as well now, but she just has not looked like (she's) doing better. She looks like maybe she matured early, and we have not been as busy with her, and some of it is due to the COVID situation (forced schedule changes)." Awaiting Street Band will be Houston Ladies Classic winner Lady Apple, who is trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen. When she breaks from the rail, the 4-year-old daughter of Curlin will look to end a three-race skid. She is coming off a third-place finish in the Obeah Stakes June 17 at Delaware Park. In the other three stakes on the Ellis card: • Asmussen will send out Cowan in the Juvenile. The son of Kantharos will make his stakes debut after an impressive maiden debut May 22 at Churchill Downs. In that 4 1/2-furlong test, Cowan started from the inside, edged away in the turn, and cruised to a 2 3/4-length score. He'll break from the rail again. Libertyrun, from Runhappy's first crop, will also draw some attention. • In the Debutante, Phoenix Thoroughbreds' Crazy Beautiful will make her first stakes start—and first start on dirt—after the daughter of Liam's Map rallied from fourth early to post a 3 1/2-length victory in her maiden debut, a one-mile turf race July 5 on the Ellis turf. Crazy Beautiful is trained by Ken McPeek. • In the Audobon Oaks, Lloyd Madison Farms homebred Sconsin will try to nail down her first stakes win after running second in her stakes debut in the July 10 Beaumont Stakes Presented by Keeneland Select (G3) at Keeneland. Trained by Greg Foley, Sconsin has a 2-2-0 record from six starts and earnings of $105,962. Casual seeks to bounce back from a sixth-place effort behind winner Gamine in the June 20 Longines Acorn Stakes (G1).