The field of eight entered April 8 in the $650,000 Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland is full of fillies and mares who have displayed top-quality form throughout their careers. For one of them, the seven-furlong contest will provide that breakthrough victory at the top level.
Perhaps the most promising in the group is the 4-year-old More Than Ready filly, Emery. Trainer Brad Cox has been high on the talent of the Stonestreet Stables filly since early in her 2-year-old career. During the summer and early fall last season, she picked up a pair of graded stakes victories and was second behind Ways and Means in the Test Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.
Emery is perfect in two starts at Keeneland, including her two-length Raven Run Stakes (G2) victory at the same seven-furlong distance in October, and is proven over a wet track—a condition that appears likely throughout Keeneland's opening weekend.
Jockey Luan Machado, Cox's first-call rider at the recently ended Turfway Park meeting, acquires the mount in place of the injured Tyler Gaffalione.
Despite tying her career-best 103 Equibase Speed Figure, Emery was beaten a neck in her 4-year-old debut Jan. 25 in Gulfstream Park's Inside Information Stakes (G2) by a brave Mystic Lake, who outdueled her rivals with a gutsy frontrunning performance from the rail.
Video: Inside Information S. presented by MyRacehorse (G2)
The win was a third in graded company for the Saffie Joseph Jr. trainee and placed the 4-year-old Mo Town filly into millionaire status for owners C2 Racing Stable and Stefania Farms. Mystic Lake has never raced on a wet track, but does hold a 4-for-5 record at the distance with one second.
Joseph also trains Dazzling Move for Miller Racing. The 4-year-old Not This Time filly won her first start for the new connections Feb. 15 in the 1 1/16-mile Royal Delta Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream. She is 0-1-1 in four starts at the distance but 2-for-2 on a wet track.
A familiar face to both Emery and Mystic Lake is My Mane Squeeze, who enters off a 5 1/2-month layoff since finishing as the runner-up to Emery in the Raven Run. The Mike Maker-trained New York-bred earned herself a pair of graded wins at Churchill Downs as a 3-year-old traveling seven furlongs, including the Eight Belles Stakes (G2) over a sloppy track. The $1,044,710 in purse money she's earned for owners William Butler and WinStar Farm makes her the richest in the field.
Also returning from a five-month layoff is the regally bred Scylla for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Twice a graded stakes winner and grade 1 placed around two turns last summer, the Juddmonte homebred was shifted to seven furlongs for the final two starts of her 4-year-old campaign; finishing second in the Ballerina Handicap (G1) and a one-length-defeated fourth in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1). A debut winner at Keeneland two seasons ago, Scylla will team up with Eclipse champion jockey Flavien Prat for the first time.
C R K Stable's Justique presents an intriguing new option within the division. The 5-year-old Justify mare is a perfect 2-for-2 since joining Cherie DeVaux's barn and adding Jose Ortiz as a rider after spending 15 races with John Shirreffs in California. Both those starts came over six furlongs on dirt after a string of two-turn races on the California grass.
The field is rounded out by last-out winners Positano Sunset and Harbor Springs.
Keeneland, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, Race 8Entries: Resolute Racing Madison S. (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Positano Sunset (KY) Julien R. Leparoux 123 Ian R. Wilkes 20/1 2 2Emery (KY) Luan Machado 123 Brad H. Cox 3/1 3 3Harbor Springs (KY) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 123 Gregory D. Foley 30/1 4 4My Mane Squeeze (NY) Luis Saez 123 Michael J. Maker 8/1 5 5Dazzling Move (ON) Edgard J. Zayas 123 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 20/1 6 6Scylla (KY) Flavien Prat 123 William I. Mott 8/5 7 7Justique (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 123 Cherie DeVaux 9/2 8 8Mystic Lake (FL) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 123 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 7/2
