The highlight of the day will be the GI Darley Alcibiades S., a qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Ken McPeek and Brad Cox have taken turns the last few years, each winning two of the last four, and McPeek has the morning-line favorite in last-out GIII Pocahontas S. winner Fun and Feisty (Midshipman).

McPeek also saddles longshot Stellar Lady (Shackleford), who broke her maiden on grass last out at Kentucky Downs Sept. 8. The aforementioned Cox also saddles a grass filly in unbeaten Chop Chop (City of Light), who enters off a win in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies S. Sept. 3.

DJ Stable's Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) will likely challenge Fun and Feisty for favoritism. Opening her account with a pair of wins including a dominant score in Churchill's Debutante S. in July, the dark bay checked in second in Saratoga's GI Spinaway S. Sept. 4.

Chad Brown sends out one worth a look at a price in Alpha Delta Stables homebred Raging Sea (Curlin). She rallied to victory in her debut going seven panels at Saratoga Aug. 7. Both her running style and her pedigree suggest she will only improve with more distance.

Juvenile grass fillies get their chance to secure a spot in the Breeders' Cup starting gate one race earlier in the GII J.P. Morgan Chase Jessamine S. Chop Chop would have been favored in this event, but now that will likely go to Towhead (Malibu Moon), who came up a nose short of that foe in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies S.

Jonathan Thomas saddles a live on in Augustin Stable's Delight (Mendelssohn). The $400,000 OBSMAR buy earned her diploma at Delaware last out Aug. 27 after a pair of thirds in her first two tries.

G. Watts Humphrey's Bling (American Pharoah) took a huge step forward when switched from dirt to turf in her second start at Ellis Aug. 20, earning her diploma by 3 3/4 lengths.

Also worth a look at what is sure to be a juicy price for bettors is NY-bred Recognize (Bolt d'Oro). Her freshman sire now has two graded winners on turf and her Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott is known for his patience and ability to get horses to peak at the right time. The bay graduated by 5 1/4 lengths at third asking against fellow Empire-breds at Saratoga in Aug. 18 and checked in third after setting the pace in that venue's P.G. Johnson S. Sept. 1.

Rounding out Friday's Breeders' Cup qualifiers is the GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. for male sprinters. With champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) and Cody's Wish (Curlin), who defeated the divisional leader in the GI Forego S., waiting for the first weekend in November, this event lacks star power. However, the horse who may be improving at just the right time is Sibelius (Not This Time), who enters off a pair of strong victories and triple-digit Beyers, including the Lite the Fuse S. at Pimlico Sept. 10, for which he warned a 106 Beyer Speed Figure.

Special Reserve (Midshipman) captured this event last year, but could only manage fourth in the Breeders' Cup. Off the board in his seasonal debut in the DeFrancis Memorial Dash July 16, he wired the Senator Robert C. Byrd Memorial S. in the slop at Mountaineer last out Aug. 6.

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Friday, Keeneland
DARLEY ALCIBIADES S.-GI, $350,000, Keeneland, 10-2, 2yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:43.58, ft.
1–SIMPLY RAVISHING, 122, f, 2, by Laoban
1st Dam: Four Wishes, by More Than Ready
2nd Dam: Emilyna, by Valid Wager
3rd Dam: Piano Affect, by Fappiano
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($50,000 Ylg ’19
FTKOCT). O-Harold Lerner LLC, Magdalena Racing (Sherri
McPeek) & Nehoc Stables; B-Meg Levy (NY); T-Kenneth G.
McPeek; J-Luis Saez. $210,000. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0,
$304,600. Werk Nick Rating: C. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Crazy Beautiful, 122, f, 2, by Liam’s Map
1st Dam: Indian Burn, by Indian Charlie
2nd Dam: Christmas Affair, by Black Tie Affair (Ire)
3rd Dam: Anna Lisa Beth, by Topsider
($250,000 Ylg ’19 FTKOCT). ‘TDN Rising Star’ O-Phoenix
Thoroughbred, LTD; B-Carolyn R Vogel (KY); T-Kenneth G.
McPeek. $70,000.
3–Travel Column, 122, f, 2, by Frosted
1st Dam: Swingit, by Victory Gallop
2nd Dam: Free Ransom, by Our Native
3rd Dam: Pay the Ransom, by J. O. Tobin
($850,000 Ylg ’19 FTSAUG). ‘TDN Rising Star’ O-OXO Equine
LLC; B-Mr. & Mrs. Bayne Welker Jr. & Denali Stud (KY); T-Brad
H. Cox. $35,000.
Margins: 6 1/4, 1 1/4, 4 3/4. Odds: 2.20, 2.00, 4.20.
Also Ran: Thoughtfully, Oliviaofthedesert, Xtrema, Gramercy.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

Away on top from her outside draw, Simply Ravishing worked her way to the lead and rail and doled out splits of :24.43, :48.59 and 1:12.94 with Crazy Beautiful in nearest pursuit. She spun for home still well within herself, and ran up the score with bounding strides to emerge as the main challenger to West Coast-based divisional leader and ‘Rising Star’ Princess Noor (Not This Time).

McPeek will need one more win in the Alcibiades to tie Lukas.

“I don’t think we know how good she is,” his assistant Alan Shell said. “She’s won on turf, dirt, going short, going long. It’s just real exciting. We’re just so thankful we have owners like Mr. [Harold] Lerner and Jack Cohen and Magdalena Racing that are behind us. They made a commitment when they bought this filly. They buy the best horses. Kenny did a great job picking her out. It’s all a team effort.”

Pedigree Notes:
Simply Ravishing, who became the first stakes winner for freshman sire Laoban when she captured the P. G. Johnson S. at Saratoga Sept. 3, upped the ante considerably with the New York stallion’s first Grade I win as a sire in the Darley Alcibiades. The stallion son of Uncle Mo has one other black-type horse from his four winners to date in GII Adirondack S. third-place finisher Ava’s Grace. Uncle Mo has gotten off to a stellar start as a sire of sires, with other freshman sires Nyquist and Outwork making a big splash in the division. Simply Ravishing is the only foal to race out of the More Than Ready mare Four Wishes, who was bred to Speightster for 2021. Simply Ravishing contributes the first black-type in three generations to her dam’s side, with only her granddam’s half-sister Valid Affect (Valid Appeal) marking up the page with a black-type win and a graded placing, both in 1997. Four Wishes was purchased by Meg Levy of Bluewater Sales for just $500 in 2017 after she had been abandoned at a boarding farm.

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