The Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan kicks off Preakness Stakes weekend as the feature race Friday evening at Pimlico. Ontario-bred Interstatedaydream enters the field of thirteen looking to earn owner Staton Flurry a second win in a feature race for fillies on the eve of an American Classic.
Flurry’s stable Flurry Racing Stables LLC was a partner in Shedaresthedevil, who won the 2020 Kentucky Oaks. The Arkansas native believes Interstatedaydream is primed for the big stage.
“We’re ready to go. We like the post draw. There are more horses in the race than we thought, but we definitely belong,” said Flurry. “It looks like there’s a lot of speed in the race, and I think we can get off speed. We’re versatile compared to some of the horses that look like they’ll just have to go for it.”
The Ontario-bred filly is coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Central Bank Ashland Stakes on April 8 at Keeneland. A qualifying race for the Kentucky Oaks, Interstatedaydream missed second, and a spot in the Oaks, by a nose.
It was just the second start of her three-year-old campaign and made off a quick three-week turnaround from her first, after she took time to recover from a setback at the end of 2021. She faded slightly down the stretch, so a full six weeks off heading into the Black-Eyed Susan bodes well for the bay filly.
Interstatedaydream was purchased at the 2021 Ocala Breeders’ Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds for $175,000 by Flurry’s bloodstock agent Clay Scherer.
“She made my list heading into the sale, and when I looked at her, I just loved her,” said Scherer. “She was immature and coming and growing the right way. I thought she would be a good horse to add to the stable, so I called Staton and said, ‘You have to buy this filly’.”
Flurry looked at Interstatedaydream’s pedigree, and liked everything about her, but noted the horse was Ontario-bred, and his trainer Brad Cox, doesn’t race in Ontario. Scherer is familiar with Ontario bloodstock from his time at Hill N Dale Farm and has purchased horses to train and race in Ontario with noted Woodbine trainer, Kevin Attard.
“William Graham bred the horse, and she came from a family of Uncaptured and Dancing Raven,” said Scherer. “Mr. Graham’s program is proven to be successful worldwide, and for years you’ve seen Ontario-breds win big races in America. I said, ‘If she’s a stakes horse it doesn’t matter where she was foaled’.”
Interstatedaydream made her way from Ocala to Kentucky where she worked with Cox’s assistant at Keeneland, and after impressive works was transferred to his main stable at Churchill Downs. She broke her maiden at Belmont and finished second in the Grade 2 Adirondack to cap her two-year-old season.
Flurry named the filly after a lyric from the song 7&7, by the Turnpike Troubadours. It’s a fitting name given her border crossing path, foaling in Ontario, selling in Florida, and racing for an Arkansas stable. She may cross another border and head back to Canada for the Woodbine Oaks, the first leg of the Triple Tiara, on July 24.
“We have considered the idea of bringing her up to Woodbine for the Woodbine Oaks and seeing how a three-year-old Canadian campaign would go for her,” said Flurry. “It’s definitely on the radar. We will be raring to go if that opportunity arises.”
Ontario Racing fans can watch Interstatedaydream in the Black-Eyed Susan on TSN at 5:00 p.m. on Friday May 20. Fans can also watch and wager on HPIBet.
