LAUREL, MD—Stakes racing returns to Laurel Park for the first time since the Preakness, as 3-year-old fillies compete in Sunday’s $100,000 Stormy Blues, a six-furlong dash on the Bowl Game turf course.
Robert S. Evans’ homebred Only for Now is the even-money favorite on the morning line, as set by Horse Racing Nation’s Ed DeRosa. Trained by Miguel Clement, Only for Now is by Not This Time, out of Grade 3 winner Lonely Road, by Quality Road. She was a sharp debut winner at Aqueduct on May 8, despite acting up in the gate and dumping Manny Franco before the start.
“She came highly recommended from Niall Brennan, and we were just fortunate enough to receive the filly,” Clement said. “The filly has a tremendous amount of ability. Mentally, she’s a bit opinionated and very much an alpha female, and you have to work with her.”
The winning tradition continues for the Evans and Clement families, a dozen years after Tonalist captured the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes. Owned by Evans and trained by Miguel Clement’s father, the late Christophe Clement, Tonalist earned $3,647,000.
“[They] are big supporters of the stable, and we’re very thankful to be a part of the team,” said Clement. “It’s exciting for them to be able to have some more success with their homebreds.”
Jorge Ruiz is named to ride.
Trainer Michael Trombetta entered two strong contenders in the Stormy Blues. Red White and Blue Racing and London Reid Thoroughbreds’ Just Philtored, a stakes-winner last year on both turf and dirt, makes her second start of 2026 following a fifth-place finish in Aqueduct’s Take the A Train Stakes on May 9.
“My gut feel with her, and time will prove it, is that she might be a better horse on the turf than she is on the dirt,” Trombetta said before Just Philtored scored the restricted Maryland Juvenile Filly Stakes on December 6.
Hark Theangelssing, a gray homebred owned by the Estate of R Larry Johnson, kicks off her sophomore campaign in the Stormy Blues. A daughter of Mendelssohn, Hark Theangelssing rallied from last to win a first-level allowance race at Laurel on October 3. She encountered traffic trouble when finishing fourth in Aqueduct’s Stewart Manor Stakes on November 7, a race that produced two next-out winners.
“She’s a little sassy, a little opinionated, like her mama,” Trombetta’s assistant, Tana Aubrey, said of Hark Theangelssing after the allowance victory. “She’s okay, this filly,” Aubrey said. “She’s got a nice turn of foot. She quickens up.”
Trombetta conditioned Hark Theangelssing’s first two dams, both bred by Johnson. Grandma Kelly’s Question won a five-furlong turf sprint at Colonial in 2003. Hark Theangelssing’s mother, Questionoftheday, won three dirt sprints.
Just Philtored, listed at 5-1 on the morning line, will be ridden by Mychel Sanchez. Ismerio Villalobos will pilot the 6-1 Hark Theangelssing.
Haymarket Farm’s homebred filly, Tap Into Grace, has never been off the board in five starts. Twice stakes-placed on dirt last year, Tap Into Grace won her only turf start, a first-level allowance on October 25, in late-running fashion.
“Her turf race was a sneaky-good one,” said trainer Brittany Russell. “I don’t think she was enjoying the first part of the race at all. At one point, I was hoping she would just come home all right. Then she kicked it in.”
Russell’s husband, Sheldon Russell, is listed on Tap Into Grace at 10-1 on the morning line.
Qatar Racing and Fergus Galvin’s The Town Tempter wasn’t headed at any point in either of her first two turf sprints. The Karakontie filly was stakes-placed on Tapeta at Turfway Park on February 7 and turns back in distance after finishing seventh on grass in the one-mile Cleopatra Handicap at Horseshoe Indianapolis on May 13. Brendan Walsh conditions The Town Tempter at 6-1.
James Chicklo’s Gerrards Cross could be the speed in the race. Trained by Kathleen O’Connell, the Midshipman filly won her only prior turf start in last summer’s Colleen Stakes at Monmouth Park. Jeiron Barbosa rides Gerrards Cross, who is 20-1 on the morning line.
Pewter Stable and Scattered Acres’ River Escape posted a 6 1/2-length debut victory on dirt at Parx, but she has a strong turf pedigree. Her dam, Tricky Escape, was a multiple Grade 3 winner on turf, and her second dam, Island Escape, was a stakes-winning turf miler. Kathleen DeMasi trains the daughter of Essential Quality. Abner Adorno rides at 12-1 on the morning line.
Lantern Hill Farm’s Gigabit dominated a field of non-two allowance runners by 6 ¼ lengths in an off-turf affair at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Conditioned by Rey Hernandez, Gigabit won her maiden by eight lengths in a five-furlong turf sprint last summer. Marcelino Pedroza Jr. rides at 15-1.
Marablue Farm’s stakes-placed Echo Juliet missed by a nose in her only prior turf start, a first-level allowance at Fair Grounds on March 13. The homebred filly by Echo Town is trained by Brett Brinkman and will be ridden by Jevian Toledo. She is 20-1 on the morning line.
Slewperstitus, Niche, and Doc’s Miracle will start only if the race is moved to the main track.
Stormy Blues was among the top 2-year-old fillies of 1994. She won four of six starts that season, including the Grade 1 Matron Stakes. Trained by the late Hall of Famer Scotty Schulhofer, she finished third in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
