Undefeated Break Even Looks to Prioress

Break Even is coming off a win in the Coronation Cup Stakes after running on the turf at Saratoga. Now, the undefeated horse is set to return to dirt in what will be her second start at the meet on August 31 in the $250,000 Prioress Stakes (G2). 

When she started on the turf for the first time in the Coronation Cup, it became her fourth straight stakes win. In that stretch of victories was the 5 1/2 - length win in the Eight Belles Stakes presented by Derby City Gaming (G2) on May 3 at Churchill Downs. 

Now, the Klein Racing’s Break Even has won six out of six starts, making her undefeated. On top of winning all of her starts, she has also led at every point of call in five of them. On January 28, she secured an allowance level win at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. In that race, she started out in second before moving ahead in the stretch to win by 4 1/4 - lengths. 

Break even is the top earner for sire Country Day. She has a total of $424,900 in earnings. She is a homebred for Richard and Bert Klein and out of the Saint Ballado mare Exotic Wager. Exotic Wager is responsible for producing five winners, one of those is the stakes-placed Hey Bro. 

Break Even is trained by Brad Cox. 

Saturday’s Prioress

The field on Saturday will consist of 3-year-old fillies going six furlongs. It is full of horses who have won before. Four of them are coming off victories. Those include Ghost Hollow Farm homebred Risky Mandate. She is making her stakes debut for trainer Tom Amoss, and her last races were a maiden win at Churchill and an allowance level win at Saratoga. 

Amoss spoke about the upcoming race and his hopes for someone to compete with Break Even in the opening stages.

"It's never a good feeling in a small field to see one horse control everything, but that won't change our game plan," Amoss said. "We're going to run our race and see what happens. She's trained very well over the track.”

"She's a physically imposing horse," added Amoss. "Even going back to watching her train in her 2-year-old year, she's always been straight quality."

Others entered into the field include Kept True and Break Curfew. The stakes-placed Kept True is coming to the Prioress after winning a pair of state-bred allowance-level races. Break Curfew is coming off a victory in a 6 1/2 - furlong claiming race on August 17 at Saratoga. It was there that she was claimed for $75,000 by trainer Steve Asmussen for owner Toby Sheets. 

There are two fillies in the race who did not win their previous starts, South of France and Royal Charlotte. 

South of France is entering the race off a runner-up finish in an allowance level race. Before that, she had won three straight races including the Tepin Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack. 

Royal Charlotte, the likely second choice, ran in the August 3 Longines Test Stakes (G1) where she finished off the board. Before that race, she was undefeated in four races that included a win in the Victory Ride Stakes. 

The horses and their jockeys for the Prioress are South of France, John Velazquez; Risky Mandate, Jose Ortiz; Break Even, Shaun Bridgmohan; Break Curfew, Ricardo Santana, Jr.; Royal Charlotte, Javier Castellano; Kept True, Irad Ortiz, Jr. 

The Prioress Stakes will run at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, August 31 as Race 3.