Returning on 15 days' rest, Domeyko Taylor's Charlene's Dream targets a second consecutive graded success when she faces 10 fillies and mares in the $250,000 Mint Julep Stakes (G3T) at Churchill Downs June 1.
It was May 17 when the 4-year-old Qurbaan filly finally broke through in graded company in the Gallorette Stakes (G3T) while returning from a winter break. It was her first attempt at the level after failing to draw into such fields on previous occasions.
"We couldn't get her into any graded stakes because she had never been in a graded stakes," trainer Ed Moger Jr. said in the Pimlico Race Course winner's circle after that victory. "We entered her in three of them, and we didn't get in, we weren't qualified."
That is a problem no more as the five-time winner in eight starts aims to justify her trainer's longtime high praise.
"I've always thought she's the best filly I've ever had," he said. "She's a very, very talented horse."
In the Gallorette, she obtained an easy lead that she carried the full 1 1/16 miles. Although none of her competitors Sunday have exhibited the same consistency at setting the pace, several have proven to run well when forward.
One of those is Niall Brennan and Michael Ryan's No Mo Candy, who trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. enters off a seven-month layoff that followed victory in the Nov. 8 Pebbles Stakes (G3T) at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Jane Bacharach, William DeBurgh, and Richard Schatz's Duvet Day also makes her first start since November, last seen winning the Cardinal Stakes (G3T) over the Churchill Downs turf for trainer Michael McCarthy.
Also in the field is Pin Up Betty, who, exactly one year prior, earned her graded triumph in the Regret Stakes (G3T) for trainer Mike Maker.
Churchill Downs, Sunday, June 1, 2025, Race 9Entries: Old Forester Mint Julep S. (G3T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Serene Seraph (IRE) Joel Rosario 118 William I. Mott 15/1 2 2Movin' On Up (KY) Lanfranco Dettori 118 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 7/2 3 3Venencia (FR) Flavien Prat 118 Chad C. Brown 12/1 4 4Duvet Day (IRE) Florent Geroux 118 Michael W. McCarthy 10/1 5 5Adrasteia (KY) Ben Curtis 118 Fergus Bogle 12/1 6 6Neon Icon (KY) Edgar Morales 118 George R. Arnold II 20/1 7 7Gavea (GER) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 118 Albert M. Stall, Jr. 20/1 8 8Pin Up Betty (KY) Luis Saez 118 Michael J. Maker 5/1 9 9Charlene's Dream (TX) Rafael Bejarano 120 Ed Moger, Jr. 9/2 10 10No Mo Candy (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 118 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 5/1 11 11Deep Satin (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 118 Cherie DeVaux 4/1
