Grammy Girl makes strong seasonal debut with upset G3 Distaff score

Grammy Girl capitalized off a long respite with a stellar 5-year-old debut, surging from the outside at the top of the stretch before fending off 3-5 favorite Immersive’s rally to post a 1 1/2-length win in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff, a seven-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Saffie Jospeh, Jr.-trained Grammy Girl looked fresh in her first start since capturing the Willa On the Move in November at Laurel Park. Under Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano’s patient ride, Grammy Girl tracked Hold Your Breath’s early speed from the rear of the compact four-horse field as the opening quarter mile went in 22.92 seconds and the half in 45.66 on the fast main track.

Castellano alertly tipped Grammy Girl out in the turn and overtook all rivals when straightened for home. Jody’s Pride initially contested near the rail before tiring. Immersive, urged by rider Manny Franco, made a valiant effort late, but Grammy Girl sustained her strong effort and thwarted the bid to her inside, hitting the wire in 1:23.47 to win as the board’s longest shot at 9-2.

Immersive, the 2024 Champion-2-Year-Old-Filly making her anticipated 2026 debut, edged Jody’s Pride by a head for second. Hold Your Breath ran fourth to complete the order of finish. Lucille Ball and With the Angels scratched, as did Takethemoneyhoney and Boutwell Time, who were both cross-entered in Saturday’s $100,000 Heavenly Cause at Laurel Park. Takethemoneyhoney scratched from that race as well, while Boutwell Time earned the victory in the seven-furlong contest.

The 72nd Distaff edition was contested for the final time at the Big A before being moved to the new and re-imagined Belmont Park next year. Castellano won the Distaff for the second time in his illustrious career and 20 years after his victory aboard Smokey Glacken in 2006.

“I had a beautiful trip and I liked the post outside,” Castellano said. “Everything set up perfect. I like the way she followed, and it was great. A great opportunity [with] the way it played. That’s all we were looking for today – small field, a lot of speed in the race. I had a great post and kept tracking the speed. I rode her with a lot of patience, and I think that’s the key to win the race today.”

In advance of the Distaff, Joseph, Jr. said the break to start Grammy Girl’s 2026 campaign was intended, adding that Aqueduct was a logical spot for a return based on her track record.

It paid off, with four of her six career wins having come in Ozone Park.
Owned by Red Storm Stable [Anthony Gurino], Miller Racing and Flower Power Stables, Grammy Girl returned $11.30 on a $2 win wager. She moved to 6-3-4 in 19 career starts and improved her career earnings to $368,550.

Bred in Kentucky by Steven Nicholson and Brandi Nicholson, the 5-year-old Mastery dark bay built on a strong 2025, and has now finished first or second in her last five outings, including a local starter allowance score sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs in October.

Previously trained by Horacio De Paz, Grammy Girl moved to the Joseph, Jr. barn last summer and has posted a 7-3-2-1 record since.

“It was an ambitious task to take on graded stakes winners off a four-month layoff. We had confidence in her. We thought she'd get a piece of it. She has a lot of class and showed a real will to win,” Gurino said. “I bought her as a yearling. My program doesn't have crazy budgets to take shots. I try to buy good individuals with obscure pedigrees. She fit the bill. She proved us right.”

Gurino indicated a number of upcoming New York stakes could be in play for Grammy Girl, including the Grade 3, $175,000 Vagrancy on May 3 at the Big A; the Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o' Roses on June 5 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course; and the Grade 1, $500,000 Resorts World Casino Ballerina on August 29 at the Spa.

“She loves it here, there's the Vagrancy. There's the Bed o' Roses; the Ballerina is in play in August,” Gurino said. “There's a big race going seven-eighths on Derby Day [Grade 1 Derby City Distaff], which is really shooting for the stars, but she could just be getting good right now. Who really knows?"

The Eclipse Award-winning Immersive was cut back in distance, competing at one turn for the first time in six starts.

Trainer Brad Cox provided the Nyquist filly a less taxing method to reacclimate to stakes competition in her first race since winning the Seneca in September at Churchill Downs. With a 5-3-0 record in eight starts, she has never finished worse than second in her career, including a trio of Grade 1 wins as a juvenile to secure year-end honors in her division.

“I don’t think that’s the best distance for her, but you’ve got to start them somewhere,” Franco said. “She at least ran on, and the gallop-out was good, so she’ll be OK going forward, going further. She feels good and she’s a nice filly.”

Live racing resumes Thursday at Aqueduct with a seven-race card. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern. 

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