Gold Square LLC's Dry Powder (Gun Runner), twice placed at the highest level during a productive 3-year-old season in 2025, drops out of graded company for Sunday's $100,000 Lady's Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park, the final local lead-up for the $500,000 GII Molly Pitcher Stakes on the Haskell undercard on July 18.
Third in the GI CCA Oaks and a neck second in the GI Cotillion Stakes either side of a victory in the Cathryn Sophia Stakes at Parx last season, the $525,000 Keeneland September graduate–carrying the same colors worn by GI Preakness Stakes hero Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map)–was a runaway winner of a one-mile Gulfstream allowance Mar. 12, but never landed a blow when off the board in the GI La Troienne Stakes May 1 and in the GII Ruffian Stakes just eight days hence.
“With the money we spent on her as a yearling, there are expectations of being a Saturday afternoon horse when you put on the black and gold (silks),” said trainer Chad Summers, who has the Preakness winner pointed toward the Haskell the same afternoon as the Molly Pitcher. “We feel she's a graded stakes filly. Ultimately, that's the goal for this year–to get that graded stakes win.
“Since she is doing so well we thought this was a race that makes sense since we're looking at the Molly Pitcher on Haskell day.”
The bay filly has worked three times since the Ruffian, including an easy half-mile in :49 flat (24/61) at Belmont Prk June 11.
“She is doing super,” said Summers. “We were excited when she won the race at Gulfstream the way she did. We took a swing in a Grade I after that. She just kind of got lost going into the first turn and ended up in no-man's land. She ran a little flat.
“But when she came out of the race she didn't even need any water afterward. So we did something a little unusual. We ran her back in eight days in the Ruffian. She ran good that day. The winner (Irish Maxima) was awesome. She ran everyone off their feet.”
Dry Powder has amassed a record of 3-3-2 from 11 starts for earnings to date of $543,400.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
