'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Mashallah (Maxfield) was back to something approaching her best when romping by seven lengths in an age-restricted, first-level Saratoga allowance on July 4 (96 Beyer), opening the door to bigger and loftier targets over the course of the next several weeks.Named a 'Rising Star' after dominating a six-furlong Keeneland maiden by nearly four lengths Apr. 23–good for a massive 106 Beyer Speed Figure–the bay gave way readily to finish a well-beaten fifth trying a mile at Churchill Downs on May 30.Suffice to say there was a collective sigh of relief emanating from Union Avenue and the faith-restoring success has her connections looking forward to what might be in store.“For sure,” said Restrepo when asked if it was good to see the filly atone for her last effort. The bloodstock agent signed the winning ticket on Mashallah at OBS March last year, going to $1.25 million on behalf of Jose Aguirre's JR Ranch in the name of his Marquee Bloodstock. “She surprised all of us with that [first] performance because it's almost like she does just enough and she looks after herself in training. And when she did that, the way she did it her first time out, [trainer] Brendan [Walsh], he said it that he thought she could get a mile easily.”On pedigree, handicappers would almost certainly concur. Mashallah is a daughter of All in With Aces (Quiet American), whose 10 winners as a producer includes Hard Aces (Hard Spun), victorious in the GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita over a mile and a quarter and twice successful in Grade III contests over 12 furlongs.But Restrepo thinks that oversimplifies things a bit.“I think you can get fooled, because if you look at the rest of her family and her dam, they're all six-furlong horses,” he said.Indeed, All in With Aces's other black-type performer was Astrollinthepark (Divine Park), a dual black-type winner at sprint trips and runner-up in the GIII Winning Colors Stakes at three-quarters of a mile.Soon after the mile allowance, the decision was made to cut Mashallah back in distance, but instead of allowing her to roll along on the front end as she had done her first two times to the races, there was a purposeful change in the tactics this time around.“When Brendan breezed her back, he said, 'I'm going to stick to sprinting. There's a race at Saratoga six and a half and let's see how she goes.' And she had a great month and it's great to see her do that. Let her rate, let her get into a rhythm and not necessarily be on the engine flying. And she shut off, which was great.“And when [jockey Tyler Gaffalione] called upon her, she responded and he felt there was a lot more to give and she's learning. But I mean clearly talent-wise, just raw talent and ability, she's got it.”Having cleared her first allowance condition, Mashallah could be headed into stakes company next time around.“This is like one of those cliche tick-the-box answers, but you obviously watch her the next couple of weeks and look, the elephant in the room is the [seven-furlong Aug. 8 GI] Test [Stakes]. Obviously, and she'll be up there at Saratoga the whole time, so that is a possibility,” Restrepo said. “There are races at Colonial and Ellis, so we could go that route and then come back for the [six-furlong Sept. 6 GIII] Prioress [Stakes]. So there are tons of ways to go about it, but the owner is a very patient man and leaves it up to the team to kind of get together.”At the end of the day, Restrepo and team are happy to defer that decision to the trainer.'It's in Brendan's hands to make that final call,” he said. “The options are laid before us and it's just see what's best for her and see how the field's shaping up, right?” Our lovely MASHALLAH bounces back in style style with an easy off the pace victory in the opener today at Saratoga, ridden by @Tyler_Gaff for trainer @brenpwalshA talented daughter of Maxfield @DarleyStallions pic.twitter.com/iYqol4tm8T— JR Ranch (@JRRanch1802) July 4, 2026The post Options Abound For ‘Rising Star’ Mashallah appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.