Like many North American turf races for fillies and mares, Keeneland's First Lady Stakes has been owned by Chad Brown, the New York native having won each running since 2018. This year's running of the Grade 1, $750,000 turf fixture at one mile was no different as Gina Romantica and jockey Tyler Gaffalione ran down defending champion In Italian in the stretch to win by a neck, giving Brown and owner Peter Brant the First Lady exacta.
For Brown, it was his sixth consecutive First Lady win and seventh overall. No surprise there, since Brown sent out three of the eight starters. Brant was winning for the third year in a row , with Gina Romantica and In Italian both carrying his silks.
What was surprising was Gina Romantica upsetting her stablemate, as In Italian was sent off the 2-5 favorite in defense of her 2022 First Lady title. Gina Romantica, a 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief, went off at 11-1 odds despite having won over the Keeneland turf in last year's Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. She was winless in two starts this year, including a runner-up performance last out in the G1 Beverly D Stakes at Colonial Downs.
In Italian led throughout, with Gina Romantica settling into sixth position in the early going. But she outkicked her more accomplished stablemate to win comfortably, the time for the one-mile on firm turf clocked in 1:33.70. Evvie Jets finished third, with Brown's third starter, Whitebeam getting fourth.
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