No Truer gets first try on turf

No Truer will look to continue to emulate the exploits of her versatile older sister when she makes her turf debut in the $75,000 Cincinnatian Stakes, for Ohio-accredited 3-year-old fillies, the co-feature on Saturday’s card at Belterra Park.

No Truer, bred by Larry Byer and owned and trained by Mike Rone, is by Alcindor and out of the unraced Shakespeare mare Be True, making her a full sister to five-time stakes winner True Cinder. True Cinder has won stakes both sprinting and routing, on turf and dirt, including a victory in last year’s Cincinnatian.

No Truer brings a record of 1-1-2 from five starts into the Cincinnatian, with her lone stakes victory coming in last November’s Glacial Princess Stakes at Mahoning Valley – a race True Cinder also won. No Truer won that sprint, contested on a sloppy track, by six lengths. No Truer, most recently second by a head in a one-mile and 70-yard allowance last month, will have Gerardo Corrales aboard for the first time in the Cincinnatian.

The field for the Cincinnatian is rounded out by Mandi’s Pride, who won a pair of allowance races by open lengths earlier this year; stakes-placed Silky Tassels; Mobil Bonnet, who has won half of her four starts; and the maidens Birdacious, Ohio Princess, and Spit’s Image. None in the field has raced on turf.

Hoover attracts nine juveniles

Saturday’s card also provides an opportunity for Ohio-bred juveniles to step up in the $75,000 Hoover Stakes. Of the nine entrants, only three – Drillit, Mari Chuy, and Diamond Dust – have won.

Drillit won by 8 1/4 lengths on debut June 23 at Thistledown for trainer Robert Gorham and Mast Thoroughbreds. The effort earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 48, the top number in the field.

Mari Chuy, trained by Marco Castaneda, began her career in open company, racing at Keeneland and Churchill Downs in the spring. She broke through with a maiden victory in her fifth start, contested over a sloppy track at Belterra.

Debut winner Diamond Dust and maidens Galactic and Private Drive are owned by trainer Tim Hamm’s Blazing Meadows Farm and WinStar Farm. Diamond Dust defeated stablemate Galactic and Going With Style in his June 3 bow at Belterra. Going With Style, trained by Rick Jordan, came back to run second to Mari Chuy in her maiden win on June 21, while Galactic was third in that race.