Aviate will attempt to earn her first Grade 1 victory when she
competes in the Grade 1, $400,000 Foxwoods Just a Game for fillies and mares at
one mile on the Widener turf course. A Juddmonte Farms homebred, Aviate has
made two starts in North America, winning the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile at
Churchill Downs on May 7 following a third in the Grade 3 Honey Fox at
Gulfstream Park on March 5. She’ll attempt to emulate last year’s Just a Game
winner Proviso and give Juddmonte and Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott their
second straight victory in the race.
“[Her development this year]
couldn’t have been better,” said Mott. “We’ll see on Saturday if it continues and
gets us to where we want to go. Having a Grade 1 would be wonderful.”
Aviate is expected to face Team
Valor International’s Gypsy’s Warning, who closed her 2010 campaign with
a victory in the Grade 1 Matriarch at Hollywood Park in November and is looking
to rebound off a seventh in the Grade 2 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland on April 16.
Heading the local contingent are Much Rejoicing and Strike the Bell,
the respective top two finishers of the Glia overnight stakes at Belmont Park
on May 13.
The Foxwoods Just a Game field is
also likely to include Bet On the Blue, Cherokee Queen, Fantasia,
Justaroundmidnight, and La Cloche. C. S. Silk is also
under consideration for the race.