Blowout Gives Brown Another First Lady Crown

Peter Brant's Blowout (GB) (Dansili {GB} gave trainer Chad Brown his fourth consecutive victory in Keeneland's GI First Lady S., leading every step of the way to just stave off a final-furlong rally from the commonly owned 'TDN Rising Star' Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom) to punch her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar Nov. 6. Empress Josephine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire} x Lillie Langtry {Ire}) ran with merit to be third.

Blowout was kicked straight into the lead by Flavien Prat from an outside alley and established a clear lead through the first two panels in a manageable :23.76 and a half in :47.75, chased most closely through the opening exchanges by La Signare (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Regal Glory, who traveled three wide the trip without the benefit of cover. Traveling nicely on the bridle nearing the stretch, Blowout was confidently ridden past the eighth pole and, although Regal Glory tried her very best, she could not press past and Blowout was home narrowly in front. Empress Josephine sat a ground-saving trip better than midfield, was pulled off the inside and rallied three wide into the stretch and ran on to be a highly creditable third. Favored Althiqa (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}), winner of the GI Just A Game S. and GI Diana S. in her two most recent starts, raced in the slipstream of Empress Josephine down the back, but endured a checkered passage through the final furlong and a half and did well to be fourth.

A Raving Beauty (Ger) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}, 2018); and Uni (GB) (More Than Ready, 2019 & 2020) were Brown's other recent winners. He won his first running of the First Lady with Dayatthespa (City Zip) in 2014, who followed up in the F/M Turf at Santa Anita.

“As usual she showed a lot of speed out of the gate, and I was able to get myself comfortable on the lead where I didn't have too much pressure,” said Prat of the winner. “She relaxed well down the backside. She fought really hard down the lane because she lost the lead for a little bit, but she dug in and fought back and really made a great stretch run.”

Blowout was one of the more luckless horses in training in 2020, losing a third-level Saratoga allowance by a neck last August, the GIII Noble Damsel S. to stable companion Viadera (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) by a similar margin the following month and missing by a nose to the latter in the GI Matriarch S. in November. The bay held on to win the GII Distaff Turf Mile May 1 at Churchill after opening up by as many as eight lengths and was a latest fourth to Got Stormy (Get Stormy) after cutting out a strong pace in the GI Fourstardave H. Aug. 14 at the Spa.

Pedigree Notes:

Blowout is the 23rd top-level scorer for her sire and is the second GISW out of a daughter of the late Deep Impact (Jpn). The other, the striking 7-year-old Kiseki (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}), was to run in Sunday's G2 Kyoto Daishoten at Hanshin.

In the name of Whitebirch, Brant paid €450,000 for Blowout at the 2016 Goffs November Sale. She is the second foal from her dam, who carried the Wildenstein silks to a popular victory in the 2012 G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) ahead of a close runner-up effort in that year's G1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks). Beauty Parlour, a daughter of SW & MGSP Bastet, is a full-sister to Barocci (Jpn), a stakes winner and Group 3-placed in France and placed in the GII City of Hope Mile and GII American H. in this country for Hronis Racing and John Sadler.

Beauty Parlour is the dam of the 2-year-old filly Bouffant (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and a yearling filly by the late Coolmore legend.

Saturday, Keeneland
FIRST LADY S. PRESENTED BY UK HEALTHCARE-GI, $400,000, Keeneland, 10-9, 3yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 1:34.86, gd.
1–BLOWOUT (GB), 124, m, 5, by Dansili (GB)
               1st Dam: Beauty Parlour (GB) (G1SW-Fr, $713,308), by Deep Impact (Jpn)
               2nd Dam: Bastet (Ire), by Giant's Causeway
               3rd Dam: Benediction (Ire), by Day Is Done (Ire)
1ST GRADE I WIN. (€450,000 Wlg '16 GOFNOV). O-Peter M.
Brant; B-Dayton Investments Ltd. (GB); T-Chad C. Brown;
J-Flavien Prat. $240,000. Lifetime Record: 14-5-7-1,
$988,600. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Regal Glory, 124, m, 5, by Animal Kingdom
               1st Dam: Mary's Follies (MGSW, $338,889), by More Than Ready
               2nd Dam: Catch the Queen, by Miswaki
               3rd Dam: Wave to the Queen, by Wavering Monarch
($925,000 5yo '21 KEEJAN). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Paul P
Pompa (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $80,000. 'TDN Rising Star'
3–Empress Josephine (Ire), 121, f, 3, by Galileo (Ire)
               1st Dam: Lillie Langtry (Ire) (Hwt. Filly at 3-Eng- at 7 – 9 1/2 f., G1SW-Ire, G1SW-Eng,
               $1,361,940), by Danehill Dancer (Ire)
               2nd Dam: Hoity Toity (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
               3rd Dam: Hiwaayati (GB), by Shadeed
O-Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor & Derrick Smith;
B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan P. O'Brien. $40,000.
Margins: HF, HF, 1HF. Odds: 5.30, 5.80, 11.50.
Also Ran: Althiqa (GB), Abscond, Viadera (GB), Harvey's Lil Goil, Daddy Is a Legend, Dalika (Ger), Hendy Woods, Star Command, La Signare (Fr). Scratched: Princess Grace.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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European Shippers Althiqa, Empress Josephine Headline Deep Field For Keeneland’s First Lady

Godolphin's Althiqa (GB), already a two-time Grade 1 winner in the U.S. in two attempts, headlines a talented field of 13 fillies and mares entered Wednesday for the First Lady (G1) Presented by UK HealthCare.

Scheduled as Saturday's eighth race at Keeneland with a 4:44 p.m. post time, the First Lady is a “Win and You're In” race for the $2 million Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) at Del Mar on Nov. 6.

Trained by Charles Appleby, Althiqa already was multiple group-placed in Europe as well as a Group 2 winner in the United Arab Emirates before coming to North America, where she took the Just a Game (G1) at Belmont in June and the Diana (G1) in July at Saratoga.

Althiqa will be ridden Saturday by Jamie Spencer and exit post three.

She will have to contend with another European invader in the Aidan O'Brien-trained Empress Josephine (IRE).

Owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, Empress Josephine has made her past four starts in Group 1 company and won the Tattersalls Irish One Thousand Guineas. John Velazquez has the mount Saturday from post position two.

Heading the U.S. contingent are the Estate of Harvey Clarke and Paul Braverman's Harvey's Lil Goil and Susan and John Moore's homebred Princess Grace.

Trained by Bill Mott, Harvey's Lil Goil won the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana here last fall and followed that with a third-place finish in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf in which she was defeated by a neck.

A winner in one of four starts in 2021, Harvey's Lil Goil will be ridden by Junior Alvarado from post position eight.

Princess Grace, a four-time graded stakes winner, has won six of seven career starts for trainer Mike Stidham and enters the First Lady Presented by UK HealthCare off a victory in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G3) on Sept. 11.

Kent Desormeaux has the mount on Princess Grace, who will start from post position 10.

Trainer Chad Brown, who has saddled the past three First Lady winners and four overall, will be represented by three runners: Juddmonte's Viadera (GB) and Peter Brant's Regal Glory and Blowout (GB).

Viadera, a three-time graded stakes winner in the U.S., comes into Saturday's race off a victory in the Ballston Spa (G2) at Saratoga. Florent Geroux has the mount Saturday and will leave post position 13.

Regal Glory, a multiple graded stakes winner, captured the De La Rose at Saratoga in her most recent start. Jose Ortiz will ride Saturday and exit post position six.

Blowout, who figures to be the pacesetter, is one for two in 2021 with the victory coming in the Distaff Turf Mile (G2) at Churchill on May 1. She was fourth in the Fourstardave (G1) against males at Saratoga. Blowout will start from post position nine and be ridden by Flavien Prat.

The field for the First Lady Presented by UK HealthCare, with riders and weights from the inside, is:

  1. Abscond (Adam Beschizza, 124 pounds)
  2. Empress Josephine (IRE) (Velazquez, 121)
  3. Althiqa (GB) (Spencer, 124)
  4. Star Command (Brian Hernandez Jr., 124)
  5. Hendy Woods (Tyler Gaffalione, 124)
  6. Regal Glory (Ortiz, 124)
  7. Daddy Is a Legend (Julien Leparoux, 124)
  8. Harvey's Lil Goil (Alvarado, 124)
  9. Blowout (Prat, 124)
  10. Princess Grace (Desormeaux, 124)
  11. Dalika (GER) (Miguel Mena, 124)
  12. La Signare (FR) (Ricardo Santana Jr., 124)
  13. Viadera (GB) (Geroux, 124).

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Daddy Is A Legend Trying To Complete Her Resume In Saturday’s First Lady

Susan and Jim Hill's multiple graded stakes winner Daddy Is a Legend will attempt to add an elusive Grade 1 victory to her resume Saturday when she makes an expected start in the $400,000 First Lady (G1) Presented by UK HealthCare at Keeneland.

“We are trying to get a Grade 1 for her, and I think she is deserving of it,” trainer George Weaver said of Daddy Is a Legend, who posted the initial victory of her career as a 2-year-old here during the 2017 Fall Meet.

After an allowance race here in the spring, Daddy Is a Legend finished fifth against males in the Fourstardave (G1) in her most recent start.

Weaver said the First Lady was the target after the Fourstardave for Daddy Is a Legend, who has two runner-up finishes and two third-place efforts in Grade 1 tries.

The First Lady is a “Win and You're In” race for the $2 million Maker's Mark Filly and Mare Turf (G1) at Del Mar on Nov. 6.

“That would be Jim's (Hill) call,” Weaver said of seeking a second Grade 1 should Daddy Is a Legend prevail Saturday. “She likes Del Mar (winning the Jimmy Durante-G3 and second in two runnings of the Matriarch-G1), and if she runs first or second here he'd be likely to consider it.”

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Going To Vegas Will Try To Maintain Her Momentum In Rodeo Drive

Fresh off the biggest win of her career and in search of her third consecutive victory, the Richard Baltas-trained Going to Vegas heads an evenly matched field of nine fillies and mares three and up going a mile and one quarter on turf in Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita. A Breeders' Cup “Win & You're In” Challenge Race qualifier, the Rodeo Drive winner will earn a fees-paid berth into the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar Nov. 6.

A 4-year-old Kentucky-bred filly by Goldencents, Going to Vegas comes off a rousing 2 ¼ length win going a mile and one eighth on turf in the Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar Sept. 4, a race in which she pressed the early pace and kicked clear through the lane as the 9-5 favorite.

Owned by Abbondanza Racing, LLC, Medallion Racing and MyRacehorse, Going to Vegas has a win and a second place finish from two tries at a mile and one quarter. Claimed for $50,000 12 starts back on June 12, 2020, she's banked $242,400 this year from five starts and has overall earnings of $454,151. With an overall mark of 21-6-8-2, she'll be seeking her first Grade 1 victory.

Second in her last four starts, including the John C. Mabee on Sept. 4, LNJ Foxwoods' homebred Dogtag has two wins and three third place finishes from five starts over the Santa Anita lawn and she has a win and a second from two tries at the Rodeo Drive distance. A 5-year-old mare by War Front, she's trained by Richard Mandella and will be ridden by Joe Bravo.

LNJ Foxwoods will have another homebred, Luck, in the Rodeo Drive lineup fresh off a most impressive U.S. debut going a mile and one sixteenth on turf in a first condition allowance Aug. 7 at Del Mar. A 4-year-old Kentucky-bred filly by Kitten's Joy, Luck won two out of her four starts in France before joining the barn of Richard Baltas this past summer. Ridden to victory by Umberto Rispoli at Del Mar, she'll be handled by Flavien Prat on Saturday and she has the look of a filly very much on the improve.

Trainer Leonard Powell's 4-year-old French-bred Neige Blanche, a winner of the Grade 3 Santa Barbara Stakes here three races back, comes off an ungraded stakes win going a mile and three eighths on turf at Del Mar Aug. 14 and would be well served by a fast early pace. Owned by Madaket Stables, LLC, Marsha Naify, et al, she'll be ridden back by Juan Hernandez.

THE GRADE 1 RODEO DRIVE WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 9 of 11 Approximate post time 4:30 p.m. PT

  1. Dogtag—Joe Bravo—122
  2. Fast Jet Court—Drayden Van Dyke–124
  3. Neige Blanche—Juan Hernandez—124
  4. Going to Vegas—Umberto Rispoli—124
  5. Rideforthecause—Mario Gutierrez—122
  6. Crystalle—Abel Cedillo—122
  7. Magic Attitude—John Velazquez—124
  8. Luck—Flavien Prat—122
  9. Red Lark—Mike Smith–122

The Rodeo Drive is one of five stakes on an 11-race card Saturday with first post time at 12:30 p.m. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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