Turf's up at Mountaineer

Turf racing returns to Mountaineer today, with four turf races kicking off the Memorial Day card. Of special note is race 4, the Decoration Day Handicap,one-mile on the grass for fillies & mares. It features the return of Lady Grace, whose 2005 season included a five-race winning streak, 4 of them at this distance. Though she finished the year with a 3rd place finish in the Summer Finale stakes, she won Mountaineer's biggest turf race for the girls when she set the stakes record in the $125,000 West Virginia Senate President's Breeders' Cup Stakes.

Today, she'll face two challengers from that race, Pretty Jane who came in second by a length and a half, and Kaylan's Rose, who came in 3rd. Kaylan's Rose, who won the Decoration Day Handicap last year, is the high weight at 121, with Lady Grace and Miss Wellspring, winner of the $100,000 Kentucky Cup Ladies Turf at Keeneland last September, both carrying 120.

Daily Racing Form highlights the Decoration Day Handicap, and its male counterpart, the Memorial Day Handicap, in a brief article that wonders if Lady Grace can do it again. Even though at 8, she's older than all of her competition, even though she doesn't usually do well from an outside post, like today's 9-slot, even though I won't be at the rail to see it -- I've got $5 that says she will.