Lucky Seven Stable's Fun and Feisty, the 3 ½-length winner of last month's $300,000 Pocahontas Stakes (Grade 3), headlines a field of eight fillies that were entered in Sunday's 10th running of the $200,000 Rags to Riches at Churchill Downs.
The 1 1/16-mile Rags to Riches is the co-headlining event of Sunday's Opening Day “Stars of Tomorrow I” card that will showcase all 2-year-old races. Along with the Rags to Riches, the 11-race program features the $200,000 Street Sense (G3) run at 1 1/16 miles. First post is 1 p.m. (all times Eastern) and the Rags to Riches will go as Race 6 at 3:31 p.m.
Fun and Feisty attempted to parlay her Pocahontas victory to Grade 1 glory three weeks later in the $500,000 Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland but finished a disappointing eighth. Fun and Feisty began her career on July 4 at Churchill Downs where she had a troubled sixth-place effort in a maiden special weight contest. Two starts later, the Midshipman filly broke her maiden by three lengths on Arlington Million Day at Churchill Downs. The Pocahontas was Fun and Feisty's first two-turn test for trainer Kenny McPeek. She'll attempt her third-career victory in the Rags to Riches with jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. in the saddle and break from post No. 7.
Chief among Fun and Feisty's rivals in the Rags to Riches is Gold Standard Racing Stable's eye-catching maiden special weight winner Hoosier Philly. Trained by Tom Amoss, Hoosier Philly was pre-entered in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) but was not selected into the body of the race. The gray daughter of Into Mischief was well-backed on debut at even-money odds when she rallied from just off the pace to easily win by 1 ¾ under jockey Edgar Morales. Since her first start, Hoosier Philly has worked twice at Churchill Downs including a swift five-furlong move in :59.60 on Oct. 12. Morales will once again have the call from the rail.
Ready Made Racing's undefeated T Max will attempt to go a perfect 3-for-3 in the Rags to Riches. Trained by Will Walden, T Max broke her maiden by 5 ¾ lengths in a restricted maiden special weight contest at Ellis Park where the runners either had to sell or RNA for $45,000 or less. The speedy T Max, a $10,000 purchase at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, won her second start by five lengths on Sept. 15 at Churchill Downs in a first-level allowance contest. Her regular rider, Jack Gilligan, will be in the irons in the Rags to Riches from post 5.
Here's the complete field for the Rags to Riches from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):
- Hoosier Philly (Morales, Amoss);
- Peacock Lass (Tyler Gaffalione, Rodolphe Brisset);
- Stellar Lady (Corey Lanerie, Kenny McPeek);
- East Shore (Martin Garcia, Dale Romans);
- T Max (Gilligan, Walden);
- Naughty Gal (Ricardo Santana Jr., D. Wayne Lukas);
- Fun and Feisty (Hernandez, McPeek); and
- Dre Me Less (Florent Geroux, Rusty Arnold).
In 2017, Monomoy Girl won the Rags to Riches prior to winning the Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI).
Wagering is available on www.TwinSpires.com, the official wagering provider of Churchill Downs Inc. and the Kentucky Derby.
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