Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith, Westerberg and Jonathan Poulin's Kimari secured a stakes victory for the fourth straight year when capturing Wednesday's Grade 2, $200,000 Honorable Miss at Saratoga Race Course.
The 5-year-old daughter of Munnings earned a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure for her closing half-length victory over Frank's Rockette for trainer Wesley Ward. The triumph was a sixth overall stakes win for Kimari, and second at the graded level. Last year, she captured the seven-furlong Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland, defeating graded stakes-winner Estilo Talentoso and Grade 1-winner Bell's the One.
A dual-surface stakes winner, Kimari captured the Bolton Landing over the Saratoga turf in August 2019 following a narrow second in the Group 2 Queen Mary at Royal Ascot. She returned to Royal Ascot the following year, finishing second in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup.
Kimari will likely return to Keeneland for her next start, which Ward said would take place in the Grade 2, $350,000 Thoroughbred Club of America on October 8 with the ultimate goal being the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on November 5 going seven furlongs over the same surface.
“I just wanted her to get back on track and now we'll get her back to our home track at Keeneland,” Ward said. “She'll have around 60 days until the next one and that will lead her right into the Breeders' Cup.”
Ward said seven-furlongs is with Kimari's scope when racing at Keeneland.
“I think she's a little vulnerable at seven [furlongs], and she can get to seven at her home track, but anywhere else might be a bit of a stretch. She ran such a big race, we kind of want to give her a little bit of extra time,” Ward said.
Lightly raced for a mare her age, Kimari boasts a consistent lifetime record of 15-8-2-2 and earnings of $981,327.
“She's a very tranquil filly, but she's had some problems that have kept her from starting as much,” Ward said. “This is where you want them heading right into the fall. The big dance is coming up.”
Bred in Kentucky by China Horse Club, Kimari is out of the graded stakes-winning Cozzene mare Cozze Up Lady. Initially owned by Ten Broeck Farm, Kimari was purchased by Coolmore's M.V. Magnier for $2.7 million at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton November Breeding Stock Sale following a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeder's Cup Sprint at Del Mar.
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