Martin Schwartz's High Ridge Road (Quality Road) is aiming for her second graded stakes victory, as she takes her place in the $250,000 GII Ruffian S. lineup at Belmont Park Saturday. A nose behind Chester and Mary Broman's Highway Star (Girolamo) in the GIII Go For Wand H. at Aqueduct Dec. 3, the Linda Rice charge added wins in Laurel's Thirty Eight Go Go S. on New Year's Eve and her initial graded tally in the GII Barbara Fritchie S. in her 5-year-old debut Feb. 18. Roughed up at the start of Keeneland's Apr. 8 seven-furlong GI Madison S., the 2-1 morning line pick trailed in seventh in the wake of recent GI Humana Distaff S. heroine Paulassilverlining (Ghostzapper).
Highway Star enters on the back of a stalking victory in the GIII Distaff H. at Aqueduct over a furlong shorter Apr. 9, snapping Godolphin runner-up Indulgent (Bernardini)'s three-race winning streak in the process. The second Chester and Mary Broman entrant, Bar of Gold (Medaglia d'Oro) towers over the rest of the field in the speed figure department, as she stormed to an 18-length victory in the Empire Distaff H. here Oct. 22 (Beyer Speed Figure 109). The John Kimmel runner tired to fourth in the Go For Wand and could not overcome getting bumped at the start and an extremely wide journey in the Plenty Of Grace S. going a mile over the Aqueduct lawn Apr. 15.
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