A cloudy, cooler day for another 11-race card.
Firm for the turf. Lane 1 for the inner, and lane 5 for the main.
Maryland shipper Lift Up and She's the Berries are the obvious protagonists in the $100K Belle Mahone Stakes, an overight route for distaffers.
The X-factor in the Belle Mahone is another Maryland invader, Monte Crista, a turf expert who's making her first start on synthetics off a bullet half-mile work on the Tapeta at Fair Hill. Her trainer and rider, Mike Stidham and Luis Contreras, combined to win a recent stakes here on the main track, the La Lorgnette, with Souper Escape.
Lunar Garden is the speed, and last year's G3 Maple Leaf winner AA Azula's Arch might need one in her first appearance in over five months.
Canadian champion Mine That Bird's 2yo half-brother, Mine That Star, is scratched from the seventh. Final Rhapsody should be favored in that two-turn maiden special, which is part of the Cross Country Pick 5.
The Jackpot Hi 5 carryover is $30K.
The changes can be found soon at http://pro.drf.com/entries