Cy Fair Kicks Off Season in Newly Graded Limestone

Upgraded to a graded contest for the first time in 2026, the Limestone Stakes (G3T) will get a proper initiation as the $350,000 purse lured the entry of a Breeders' Cup winner, Cy Fair, April 10 at Keeneland. Last seen scorching the boys Oct. 31 in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) over 5 furlongs for owners Medallion Racing, Swinbank Stables, Joey Platts, and Mark Stanton, the Not This Time filly will stretch back out to the same 5 1/2-furlong distance at which she broke her maiden on debut last July at Saratoga Race Course. Receiving a winter break, the now 3-year-old returned to the work tab in mid-February and has been training consistently since. "She's been doing great," said trainer George Weaver. "Got her back going and I've been very pleased with her training. She's filled out and developed for sure." With jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.—who first rode her in the Breeders' Cup—returning to the saddle, Cy Fair was marked a heavy 9-5 morning-line favorite breaking from post 9 in an overflow field of 12, with two also eligibles. If she runs to those odds, it could set up an exciting year ahead. "We're starting her back in a turf sprint. I guess as the year goes on, maybe we'll experiment a little bit," Weaver said. "But we'll try to hit all the right spots. If she runs well enough, we might think about going to Ascot or something like that, but I guess we'll just take it one race at a time." One filly who has already ventured over to Royal Ascot is Amy and Caitlin Dunne, Brenda Miley, Jean Wilkinson, Hoffman Family Racing, Tranquility Lake Farms, and Maury and Christopher Harrington's Lennilu, who carried the American flag honorably with a game third in last year's Queen Mary Stakes (G2) for trainer Patrick Biancone. Ending her season seventh behind Cy Fair in the Breeders' Cup, the Leinster filly bounced back to start the season with her fourth career stakes win March 22 at Gulfstream Park. She is listed as the 9-2 second choice with Luis Saez up in post 8. Outside of Cy Fair in post 10 at 6-1 is Snow Face Princess, who is the lone horse to defeat the Breeders' Cup winner. The win came courtesy of a late rally for a neck victory in the Bolton Landing Stakes that led to Winchell Thoroughbreds spending $775,000 to obtain the daughter of Midshipman in Fasig Tipton's August Digital Sale. Friday will mark her second start for the new owner and Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. She returns from a seven-month layoff after being beaten a length in Kentucky Downs' Untapable Stakes by Godolphin's Quiet Street, who herself returns in the Limestone from a six-month layoff at 10-1 odds for Hall of Famer Bill Mott. That daughter of Street Sense is 2-for-2 at sprint distances.