A field of 11 fillies and mares, led by grade 2 winners Gun Song and My Mane Squeeze, have been entered for the $200,000 Ruffian Stakes (G2) May 10 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Last year at age 3, Lewis R. Lee's Gun Song competed in six graded races, winning the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) at Pimlico Race Course. She also finished a close second to Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna in the Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing and second by a head to Tarifa in the Mother Goose Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct.
In her 2025 debut, the Gun Runner filly trained by Mark Hennig finished third in a March 13 allowance optional claiming race at Gulfstream Park. She has worked five times since that run, including a bullet half-mile in :48 2/5 April 25 at Gulfstream and then another sharp half in :47 3/5 May 2 on the Belmont Park training track.
Hennig told BloodHorse his goals for Gun Song this year include a return to grade 1 competition.
"We were a little disappointed in her comeback race. She came back sore-footed from that, and I had to take a step back and pull her shoes, but she's looking good now. She's done great since we got her feet straightened out," Hennig said. "Other than me maybe running her back too quick in the Acorn, I thought everything went pretty well for her last year.
"She was a filly that was developing and maturing as the year went on, and that showed in her effort against Thorpedo Anna. We were excited about giving her a little breather and now having a good 4-year-old campaign."
My Mane Squeeze, a New York-bred filly by Audible , also enjoyed a successful 2024 sophomore season in which she won the Eight Belles (G2) and Dogwood (G3) stakes at Churchill Downs and placed in three other graded events, including a third in the Test Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Mike Maker for William J. Butler and WinStar Farm, $1 million-earner My Mane Squeeze has excelled going one turn and she likes Aqueduct, where she has three wins from four starts, including a 2-for-2 record over the Ruffian's one-turn mile configuration.
My Mane Squeeze's 4-year-old campaign got off to a solid start with a third in the Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.
Trainer Chad Brown entered a pair of improving 4-year-olds: stakes-placed Catherine Wheel and Headline Numbers, a last-out winner of the Top Flight Stakes at Aqueduct.
Takethemoneyhoney, a Maryland-bred filly by Golden Lad , invades off a 5 1/4-length allowance win at Laurel Park and drew the rail. She was second by a nose behind Catherine Wheel in a previous attempted New York raid.
Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. entered a trio: impressive Gulfstream allowance winner Here's the Kicker, Royal Delta Stakes (G3) winner Dazzling Move, and Claret Beret, who is cross-entered in an overnight handicap Sunday at Gulfstream.
The field also includes stakes winner Jody's Pride, a 4-year-old American Pharoah filly still looking to fulfill the promise of her runner-up finish in the 2023 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), and the 6-year-old multiple graded-placed, New York-bred stakes winner Sterling Silver, by Cupid .
Belmont at the Big A, Saturday, May 10, 2025, Race 10Entries: Ruffian S. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 Takethemoneyhoney (MD) Eliseo Ruiz 118 Michael M. Moore - 2 Morning Matcha (PA) Paco Lopez 120 Robert E. Reid, Jr. - 3 Catherine Wheel (KY) Flavien Prat 118 Chad C. Brown - 4 Sterling Silver (NY) Javier Castellano 118 William I. Mott - 5 Here's the Kicker (KY) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 118 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. - 6 Dazzling Move (ON) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 122 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. - 7 Claret Beret (KY) Junior Alvarado 118 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. - 8 Jody's Pride (KY) Joel Rosario 120 Jorge R. Abreu - 9 Gun Song (KY) John R. Velazquez 124 Mark A. Hennig - 10 My Mane Squeeze (NY) Manuel Franco 120 Michael J. Maker - 11 Headline Numbers (KY) Dylan Davis 120 Chad C. Brown -
