BY BROCK SHERIDAN
Ground Support, the Florida-bred Champion 2-Year-Old filly of 2025, is set to make her first start of the year Saturday in the $275,000 Tepin, a Listed stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs. Trained by Kelsey Danner for Art Neuhedel, John Ballantyne and Daryl Shaw’s NBS Stable, Ground Support is the morning line favorite at 3-1 among the 11 entered to contest a mile on the turf.
Ground Support has not raced since third after being passed in deep stretch in the Grade 1 John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on October 31. With Adam Beschizza aboard, Ground Support rallied from mid-pack around the turn in the Breeders’ Cup, seized a length-and-a-half advantage at the head of the lane before yielding to Balantina (Ire) and Pacific Mission (GB) late to finish a length-and-a-half back.
She had entered the Breeders’ Cup undefeated in two starts, winning a one-mile maiden special weight at Kentucky Downs at odds of 100-1 in August then taking the Grade 2 Miss Grillo by two lengths on the Aqueduct inner turf on October 4.
Ground Support has earned $254,000 in her three starts. She is by Army Mule out of the Arch mare Arch Support and was bred in Florida by Michael Sucher’s Champion Equine in Del Rey Beach, Florida.
Ballantyne/NBS Stable took her for $80,000 out of the Tom McCrocklin consignment at the 2025 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-year-olds in training.
Ground Support has post eight and Beschizza, who rode in all three of her races last year, will again be aboard.
Four fillies who last raced in the the $150,000 Cleopatra Stakes on the Horseshoe Indiana turf on May 13, are among the entries including East Jabip (Ire), who finished fifth as the odds-on favorite.
East Jabip is trained by Brian Lynch and won her first two career starts before the Cleopatra where she was just two lengths behind winner How About Now in the one-mile test. She broke her maiden first out going a mile on the turf at Gulfstream in February then won a first level allowance race for fillies by two-and-a-half lengths going a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the grass at Keeneland on April 9.
An earned of $92,430 in three starts for Bluebird Stables, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Ken T. Reimer, East Jabip is the 4-1 second choice in the program and will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. from post three.
Cleopatra winner How About Now is listed at 8-1 on the morning line, breaking from post seven with Axel Concepcion up.
The George Arnold II-trained daughter of Not This Time looks for her third straight win, having taken a maiden special weight for fillies going a mile on the turf at Keeneland on April 12.
How About Now is owned by Summer Wind Equine and boasts earnings of $154,709 from two wins in five starts.
Luis Saez rides Faye’s Gold, who was second in the Cleopatra and won a first condition allowance race on the Churchill Downs turf on June 7 in one race since. Trained by Grant Forster, Faye’s Gold is by Goldencents and sports a record of three wins, two seconds and two thirds from 12 starts with earnings of $195,305 for Triton Thoroughbreds.
Faye’s Gold is 15-1 on the morning line and will depart post five.
Rounding out the field are Mescat with jockey Alexander Crispin, Woodstock has Danny Sheehy taking the reins, Flavien Prat rides Final Accord, Bohemian will have Jose Ortiz in the saddle, Junior Alvarado has the call on Tam Tam, Use Me (Ire) will have Tyler Gaffalione up and Turner’s Charm with Ben Curtis aboard.
Return to the June 24 issue of Wire to Wire
