Micheline Graduates Twice in Sorority

OCEANPORT, NJ – Godolphin’s homebred juvenile Micheline picked the perfect time to break her maiden, closing late in her stakes debut to win $100,000 Sorority Stakes at Monmouth Park.

Breaking from post 3 under Nik Juarez as the 4/5 favorite despite her maiden status, Micheline sat off the pace that Life On the Edge set. The opening fractions came across in :23.01, :47.59, and 1:10.80.

Heading into the far turn, Micheline slowly tipped out as she prepared to unleash her rally. At the top of the stretch, Juarez gave her the green light, but she soon steadied slightly due to Rising Bella shifting out in front of her.

Once she recovered, Micheline shot right past her foes with a ferocious rally before drawing off to win by 1 3/4 lengths. The Mike Stidham trainee completed the mile-long event over the firm turf course in a final time of 1:37.19.

“She was very professional, and that’s what she has shown in the morning,” Stidham said. “She’s very classy. She has a big, huge stride on her, and she obviously has ability.”

Rising Bella finished 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Sky Kitten for second, while Bramble Berry was just behind them in fourth. Romney Marsh passed a weakened Life On the Edge to take fifth, and completing the order of finish came Lovely Brown, Crafty Angel, and Bucks Vow.

Micheline’s win netted $60,000, which increased her overall bankroll to $70,800. She finished a late-running third at Saratoga on August 11 in her debut, which covered 1 1/16 miles on the firm turf.

“We’ve liked her for a long time in the mornings,” Stidham said. “That’s why we had the confidence to take her to Saratoga for her first start. She kind of broke a little slow in her first start and got herself way back, but she made a really nice move on the turn to make up a lot of ground and get third, so I knew with that race under her belt, getting just a little education, if she broke good in this race and put herself into the race, she would be very tough.”

Micheline returned $3.80 to win, $3 to place, and $2.40 to show. Rising Bella brought back $16.40 to place and $9.80 to show, while Sky Kitten paid $5.20 to show.