Lennilu Looking to Get Hooves Dirty in Saturday’s Game Face

G2 Queen Mary Likely Next for Royal Parm Juvenile’s Celtic Dispute

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Lennilu will be looking to get her hooves dirty again Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where the Patrick Biancone-trained filly has been installed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite for the $100,000 Game Face.

The daughter of Leinster, who is undefeated at Gulfstream in four starts, will represent an ownership group headed by Amy E. Dunne when the multiple-stakes winner on turf faces six rivals in the six-furlong stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the main track.

“Don’t forget she broke her maiden easy on the dirt and she won [at Gulfstream] one time on dirt, too,” Biancone said. “We decided to take a shot on the dirt, and see where we are.”

Lennilu enters the Game Face off a disappointing fifth-place finish at 5 ½ furlongs on turf at Keeneland in the Limestone (G3), in a field of nine 3-year-old fillies that included Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) winner Cy Fair.

“She showed a little bit of limitations going 5 ½ furlongs against the best filly in the country,” Biancone said.

The Florida-bred filly raced in mid-pack while experiencing a wide trip and was unable to make any progress through the stretch.

“If she had a better trip, she may have finished fourth, but I don’t think she could have beaten the first three,” Biancone said. “I think they were too fast for her anyway.”

No horse has been too fast for Lennilu at Gulfstream, where she is 4-for-4.

The gray filly followed up a debut victory at 4 ½ furlongs on dirt at Keeneland last spring with a rousing 3 ¾-length score despite early bumping in the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies, a five-furlong turf stakes which offered the winner automatic entry into one of six stakes during Great Britain’s Royal Ascot meeting.

After finishing third in the Queen Mary (G2) at Royal Ascot, she returned to Gulfstream and to dirt coming off a layoff of nearly three months to capture Desert Vixen, the six-furlong first leg of the FTBOA Sire Stakes series. A return to turf resulted in a victory over the boys in the five-furlong Hollywood Beach, which served as a prep for a start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, in which she finished seventh behind victorious Cy Fair.

Lennilu again found her footing at Gulfstream while winning her 2026 debut in the March 22 Melody of Colors, a five-furlong turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Although she was off-the-board in the Limestone, Biancone expects her to be at her best Saturday.

“She is training well. She is in form,” said Biancone, who has named Jonathan Ocasio to ride Lennilu.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. will be represented in the Game Face by four fillies, including Daugherty Racing LLC and 24th Road Racing LLC’s Late Night Text, who has been rated second on the morning line at 9-5 coming off a strong maiden victory at seven furlongs in her sixth career start. MyRacehorse, Thoroughbred Acquisition Group LLC and Miller Racing LLC’s Love Like Lucy is rated third at 9-2 on the morning line. The Joseph-trained daughter of Win Win Win, who finished third behind Lennilu in last year’s Desert Vixen, is winless in three starts this year. Victorian Farm LLC’s Maxitas, a debut winner at Tampa Bay Downs, and Jackpot Farm’s Canton, a winner of one of five starts, round out the Joseph quartet.

Champion Equine LLC’s Willow Case, a multiple-stakes winner who will make her 2026 debut Saturday, and Oliver Gray’s Dakota’s Lil Auror, a steady-running filly who finished third in an allowance last time out, complete the Game Face field.

Meanwhile, Biancone is making plans for a return trip to Ascot Racecourse in June with Celtic Dispute, who captured the May 9 Royal Palm Juvenile at Guflstream. The 2-year-old daughter of Leinster wore down Wesley Ward-trained favorite Skara Brae to earn automatic entry into one of six stakes during the Royal Ascot meeting (June 16-20). Although she beat the boys at Gulfstream, she’s likely going to run with fillies in the Queen Mary.

“I’d say 80 percent Queen Mary, 20 percent Albany,” Biancone said.

The Queen Mary is run at five furlongs on turf, while the Albany (G3) is contested at six furlongs.