Shadwell Stable's undefeated Muhimma is all set to make her graded stakes debut in Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle. This nine-furlong race for juvenile fillies at Aqueduct Racetrack is highly anticipated. The top-five finishers will earn 10-5-3-2-1 qualifying points towards the prestigious Kentucky Oaks (G1) on the first Friday in May at Churchill Downs. First post is at 11:40 a.m. Eastern. Click here for Aqueduct entries and results.

Impressive Beginnings of Muhimma

Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, Muhimma has won both of her starts in an impressive manner. In September at Churchill Downs, she romped to a 7 1/2-length victory in a 6 1/2-furlong sprint over My Lil Punky, who went on to win next out and finish seventh in the Golden Rod (G2) on Saturday. Muhimma earned a field-best 83 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form. In her most recent start on November 1 at the Louisville oval, she pressed the pace before taking a 4 1/2-length advantage at the stretch call and kept on strongly to post a 5 1/2-length win over returning rival Liam in the Dust in a final time of 1:23.77. That effort received a 79 Beyer. Since then, she has worked three times at Churchill, including a sharp five-furlong breeze in 1:01.2 on Friday that ranked second fastest among 15 efforts for the distance on the day.

Bred with Excellence

Muhimma was bred in Kentucky by Three Chimneys Farm and was a $700,000 purchase at the Keeneland September yearling sale. She is out of the multiple graded stakes-placed Tapit mare Princesa Carolina, and her second dam is dual Grade 1-winner Pure Clan. Florent Geroux will retain the mount from the inside post.

Reopposing Rival Liam in the Dust

Storyteller Racing and Schroeck Racing's Liam in the Dust, starting from post 2 under Flavien Prat, will reoppose Muhimma. In her previous race, she finished second in the Churchill optional claimer. She stalked the pace in sixth under Luan Machado after being squeezed leaving the chute and improved to third position while still 6 1/2 lengths back at the stretch call. She responded well to urging in the stretch to take second position near the sixteenth pole but could not catch Muhimma and settled for second place. Rodolphe Brisset said this effort was a welcome result after a troubled start in the Alcibiades (G1) on October 4. She broke clean but got into a tight spot and lost a lot of ground. Then she got the kickback and had the opportunity to quit but instead made a run in the turn. Although the winner was already gone, she galloped out strongly after the wire. The Alcibiades is the only blemish on her 3-for-4 on-the-board record, which also includes a pacesetting debut win sprinting seven furlongs in August at Ellis Park and a runner-up effort to La Cara in the one-mile Pocahontas (G3) under Luis Saez in September at Churchill.

Morning Work and Trainer's Thoughts

Brisset is pleased with what he's seen in the mornings from Liam in the Dust, especially after her workmate Impulse Buy won Saturday's Fern Creek at Churchill. "She's been breezing with Impulse Buy, so before giving her a small break, we just feel like we've got to give two turns another try," he concluded.

Chad Brown's Ballerina d'Oro

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out Ballerina d'Oro from post 10 with Dylan Davis riding. She makes her dirt debut off a closing eighth in the Grade 2 Jessamine on October 4 over the Keeneland turf. She adds blinkers for the Demoiselle. Campaigned by Rodeo Creek Racing, the Medaglia d'Oro gray has made all three of her starts over grass, including a second-out graduation by a neck in a one-mile tilt in September at Kentucky Downs where she rallied impressively from 8 3/4 lengths off the pace. Last out, she tracked well off the pace in last-of-11 in the 1 1/16-mile Jessamine after bumping with a rival at the start. She was angled four-wide in the upper stretch and then eight-wide in the lane amidst traffic in the large field but found her best stride late to finish eighth just three lengths back of the victorious May Day Ready. "It was kind of a weird race. She found herself far back and was running very green. She finished with some interest, but I left the race wanting to get home and put blinkers on her for that reason. She really picked it up on the dirt here versus what she was in the summer, so maybe she's just matured and developed. I'm excited to see what she can do at a mile and an eighth on the dirt," Brown said. He added that he added blinkers in the filly's training in anticipation of another start on turf in the Big A's Tepin but opted for the Demoiselle after her recent works on dirt impressed him.

Breeding and Potential

Ballerina d'Oro was a $320,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale and is out of the Tapit mare In the Moonlight, a half-sister to graded stakes-winners and sires Wilburn and Beethoven, as well as A.P. Sonata, dam of graded stakes-winning multimillionaire Grand Sonata.

Emily Bushnell and Pam Wygod's Beauty Reigns

Emily Bushnell and Pam Wygod's Kentucky homebred Beauty Reigns starts from post 8 with jockey Junior Alvarado. She stepped up off a debut graduation sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs on November 8 here for Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott. The Into Mischief gray was impressive when pressing the early pace set by Not the First Time before sticking her head in front in the turn and facing a challenge from My Sherrona. Beauty Reigns drifted out coming into the lane before she and My Sherrona fought gamely in the stretch, with Beauty Reigns winning by a half-length in a final time of 1:17.91. Out of the unraced Tapit mare Ilsa, her second dam is 2009 Broodmare of the Year Sweet Life, who produced multiple Grade 1-winners Sweet Catomine and Life Is Sweet.