Energy radiated from the filly as we warmed up on the turf, getting ready to breeze for the last time before the Summer Cup. Grace had so far been pretty amazing. We'd come in fifth in our first race, and we hadn't placed out of the top three since. Problem was, Grace hadn't yet had a second win. Hopefully this would be it! I still felt as though we were taking a big risk, entering this race. I rose and sat to her beats as I steered her through a number of different warm up figures. big and small circles, big and small figure eights. Zigzags. Serpentines. Then we broke into canter, heading off toward the half mile pole.

Grace was especially bouncy today. She'd last raced about two weeks ago, in a short, six furlong sprint to prepare her for this race, coming in third.