CT: At a Premium looks strong in Bishop Memorial
Has dominated her first three career starts
The Biz
July 24, 2026
With a 3-for-3 record and 1-5 morning line odds, At a Premium appears to have scared off most of the competition in Saturday’s $75,000 Sylvia Bishop Memorial Stakes. The seven-furlong test for West Virginia-bred three-year-old fillies has attracted just four runners, including the favorite.
The David Walters trainee has done nothing wrong through the first three starts of her career, winning them by a combined total of 33 – yes, 33! – lengths.
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She broke her maiden by 13 1/2 lengths in March, followed that with a 12-length allowance romp in May and most recently cruised by 7 1/2 lengths in another allowance on June 18, earning a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure.
A daughter of Great Notion, At a Premium has displayed abundant early speed in each of her victories, and the stretch from 6 1/2 furlongs to seven furlongs is unlikely to pose a problem. Saturday’s race, however, will mark her first stakes appearance after facing only allowance and maiden company.
At a Premium is a homebred for Jill Daniel and will be ridden by Jeiron Barbosa.
Her biggest threat may be Johanna, who has won four of six career starts for trainer Jeff Runco. The Vino Rosso filly enters off a three-length allowance victory at this seven-furlong distance and has won three straight and four of five around two turns. Denis Araujo will ride.
Runco also saddles Orange Canyon, a three-time winner who has been competitive against older fillies and mares in allowance company. She was third behind Johanna in their June 11 meeting after winning consecutive allowance races earlier this spring.
Arnaldo Bocachica is named.
Rounding out the field is Maskedandmummed, last year’s West Virginia Futurity and James and Eleanor Casey Memorial winner. She has earned nearly $175,000 in her career and took the 4 ½-furlong Its Binn Too Long to kick off 2026. But she has been the beaten favorite in her last two.
Antonio Lopez will ride.
If At a Premium delivers another dominant performance, bigger game – such as the Grade 2 Charles Town Oaks – could be in her sights.
The Sylvia Bishop Memorial Stakes is the third on a nine-race card. It is named in honor of Sylvia Bishop, a Charles Town-based trainer who was the first Black woman to be a licensed Thoroughbred trainer in the United States.
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