13.30 Curragh, Mdn, €20,000, 2yo, c/g, 7fT
HENRY LONGFELLOW (IRE) (Dubawi {Ire}) wins the award as the day's best-bred runner, being the second foal out of the high-class and versatile Ballydoyle sensation Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who was able to win at the top level at a mile in the 1000 Guineas and QEII and a mile and a half in the Oaks. This is an important maiden for Aidan O'Brien, with last year's TDN Rising Star Hans Andersen (GB) (Frankel {GB}) the latest in a line of winners which includes the luminary Australia (GB) and all eyes will be on this grandson of Lillie Langtry (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) whose immediate family also boasts Galileo's fellow Classic heroines Tuesday (Ire) and Empress Josephine (Ire).

15.35 Newbury, Cond, £250,000, 2yo, 5f 34yT

RELIEF RALLY (IRE) (Kodiac {GB}) is the star turn in the latest renewal of this valuable Weatherbys Super Sprint S., with William Haggas seeking compensation for the agonisingly narrow defeat of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede's filly in Royal Ascot's G2 Queen Mary S. Denied in the bobber there by Crimson Advocate (Nyquist), the half-sister to the G3 Chipchase S. winner Koropick (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) who was a bargain 58,000gns buy at the Tatts Somerville Sale is a warm order in one of the bigger “sales races” of the calendar but has 20 rivals to overcome.

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Shantisara (IRE) and Technical Analysis (IRE) provided the barn with its second consecutive Grade 1 exacta sweep with their 1-2 finish in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup presented by Dixiana on Saturday at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

“Those are two nice fillies, and they are in good shape this morning,” said Baldo Hernandez, who is overseeing the Brown string at Keeneland. “They may be going back to New York tomorrow.”

Shantisara, owned by the partnership of Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, and Robert LaPenta, surged to a record-setting five-length victory over Klaravich Stables' Technical Analysis.

The previous week, the Brown-trained duo of Blowout (GB) and Regal Glory ran 1-2 in the Grade 1 First Lady Presented by UK HealthCare for owner Peter Brant.

Hernandez said Blowout and Regal Glory also would be heading back to New York with the Queen Elizabeth II runners.

Flavien Prat rode both Grade 1 winners with Jose Ortiz finishing second in both races. Prat will attempt to double up for Brown this afternoon at Woodbine when he rides Kalifornia Queen (GER) in the $600,000 Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine Race Track in Toronto, Ontario.

Trainer Brad Cox was pleased with the third-place effort of Michael De Broglio's Burning Ambition in the filly's graded stakes debut.

“I have no idea what I am going to do with her next since there is obviously no turf racing in Kentucky for a while,” Cox said. “Possibly the ($300,000) American Oaks (G1 at 1¼ miles on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita).”

Eclipse Thoroughbreds and TOLO Thoroughbreds' Queen Goddess, who finished fifth in her stakes debut, will train at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., the next couple of weeks and then ship to California, trainer Michael McCarthy said via text.

Harris Farms' Closing Remarks, sixth on Saturday, was scheduled to return to trainer Carla Gaines' base at Santa Anita on Tuesday.

James Wigan's Cloudy Dawn (IRE), seventh in her U.S. debut for trainer William Haggas, was scheduled to ship back to Europe on Monday, according to head lad Suraj Bissessur.

Watts Humphrey Jr.'s Flippant is scheduled for a 2-3 month break following her eighth-place finish, according to Phil Oliver, husband of trainer Vicki Oliver.

Leaving for Europe today was Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith's Empress Josephine (IRE), who finished ninth as the favorite.

“The lack of cover early in the race didn't help her,” said Kieran Murphy, who has overseen the filly's training at Keeneland for Aidan O'Brien. “It was tough to come back that quick from what was a tough race last week for her (in the First Lady in which she was third).”

Murphy also said Katsumi Yoshida's Nicest (IRE), who finished fourth for trainer Donnacha O'Brien, would not be leaving Sunday with plans to be determined.

Charles Fipke's undefeated Lady Speightspeare, who was scratched at the starting gate prior to the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Presented by Dixiana, is scheduled to return to Woodbine on Monday.

“She's OK this morning. It's just disappointing to come all this way and not run,” said Ally Walker, assistant to trainer Roger Attfield. “She has a bit of a wild side, and yesterday she reared up four times in the gate and then tried to lay down.”

The post Shantisara, Technical Analysis In Good Shape After Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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First, in the backyard of Windsor Castle, William Haggas saddles the unbeaten star of his Newmarket stable, Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. at Ascot. Then, just a few hours later, he will see whether Cloudy Dawn (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) can export the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup.

Be in no doubt, an elite prize on either side of the ocean–both honoring one of the patrons of his own yard–is a day's work well within the reach of one of the premier English trainers of his generation. Two weeks ago, Haggas sent out eight winners at five different tracks in one afternoon. That might seem a relatively feasible endeavor in the American system, Jeff Runco having saddled seven state-bred winners on a single card at Charles Town only last week, but it is thought to be unprecedented in Britain. Regardless, you can judge the precision with which Haggas places his horses from the last time he sent Cloudy Dawn into action, at Deauville in August. She was first of four winners either side of the English Channel within 40 minutes, three at Group level, at cumulative odds of 4,252-to-1.

This upgrade for Cloudy Dawn duly implies that her progress must be ongoing. But a race so hospitable to the strengths of European raiders, true to the diplomatic spirit of its creation, also features one whose campaigning invites horsemen on both sides of the water to ponder their collective management of the breed.

For it was only last Saturday that Empress Josephine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) finished strongly for third in the GI First Lady S. This same formula worked for Ballydoyle 10 years ago with another daughter of Galileo, Together (Ire), who similarly finished strongly for a podium against her seniors before wheeling back to beat fellow sophomores the following weekend. (And Together, moreover, had run in a Group 1 at Newmarket just two weeks before the First Lady.)

Empress Josephine (left), third just last week in the First Lady | Coady

Now this kind of thing has long been a familiar trademark of their record-breaking trainer, Aidan O'Brien. Partly, no doubt, that has been a luxury of his status as primarily a private trainer. Federico Tesio, who was similarly in the business of proving stock for breeding, ruthlessly diverted even elite animals to the service of their workmates as soon as he felt he had established their ceiling. And O'Brien has always said that his employers–renouncing the nervous protection of reputations that once inhibited so many commercial operations–urge him to use the Ballydoyle talent pool as a means of drawing out its deepest genetic resources. John Magnier had plainly decided that the cyclical, dynastic nature of breeding made it a better play, in the long term, to be sure what you had.

As a result, O'Brien has been able to produce breeding stock that repeats its brilliance because it's encased in corresponding hardiness. The most celebrated example among stallions he has made is Giant's Causeway, whose ferrous qualities were such that the aggregate winning distance across his last eight starts–five as winner, three times as runner-up, over different distances and surfaces but all at Group 1/Grade I level–was barely a couple of lengths. But O'Brien has frequently hammered wonderful careers out of fillies, too, by plunging them unsparingly into the forge.

That of Peeping Fawn (Danehill), for instance, was compressed between April and August of her sophomore campaign, and included four starts in maidens. Eleven days after the last of those, she ran third in the G1 Irish 1,000 Guineas–and then second in another Classic, over half a mile farther at Epsom, just FIVE days after that. Time for a break? Forget it. Later that month she was launched on a spree of four Group 1 wins, each more impressive than the last, within 54 days.

All horses are different, naturally, and a genius like O'Brien will clearly tailor his methods to their individual needs. And being totally ignorant of what makes Malathaat (Curlin) tick, for instance, it would be invidious to rebuke her Halley's Comet schedule. In broader terms, however, I think we are all entitled to regret those changes in either the breed or training methods, or both, that nowadays inhibit the way racehorses are campaigned.

Flippant brings a three-race win streak to her first GI test | Coady

We owe nearly all the copper-bottomed influences in postwar American pedigrees to an old school testing of their genetic selection for the kind of robust constitution required to carry speed. Hail to Reason's career notoriously derailed in its first September, but he had already made 18 starts. Nashua won a maiden on debut, in May, and was contesting his second stakes 14 days later.

John Williams, such a precious and enlightening conduit of the best old lore, has always said that this horse was his physical paragon. John will tell you that just looking at Nashua's shoe, even as an ageing stallion, would explain how he had sustained a juvenile championship, 2-1-1 finishes in the Triple Crown, and a Jockey Club Gold Cup over four seconds faster than his first. Eddie Arcaro once told John how he was wondering what to say as Nashua returned from one of his occasional dud works, but before he could say a word Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons had sent him straight back out to do it again. This time Nashua put in a bullet, and he won the Wood Memorial three days later.

Now you may say that it would be reckless to train horses like that today. But I'm not sure O'Brien would agree with you and, if the Thoroughbred really is less resilient today, then that may well reflect a far more culpable recklessness among breeders.

Earlier this week colleague Emma Berry broke the story in TDN Europe that G1 2,000 Guineas and G1 St James's Palace S. winner Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire})–who this spring contested three Classics in 22 days–has been acquired to stand in Japan. Poetic Flare, remember, was bred and trained by Jim Bolger, once mentor to the young O'Brien. And you can be sure Bolger approves what his former protégé is doing with Empress Josephine, as another 2021 Classic winner from the same school of Irish horsemanship.

As a stud prospect, Poetic Flare offered precisely what we need to staunch the genetic losses being suffered by the breed today. Unfortunately, however, European commercial breeders have unanimously written off his sire and none of them, despite the evidence before their eyes, appears to accept that worthwhile strains in a pedigree might filter through regardless. (Ironic, really, when Poetic Flare satisfies the Galileo-Danehill blend they hold so sacred.)

Maybe an imaginative farm in Kentucky might have taken a chance with Poetic Flare, but the environment there would have been no less wholesome. Despite the vogue for importing yearlings from Tattersalls, everyone can see how hard it is even for proven turf stallions, never mind extremely credible new ones, to get commercial traction in the domestic yearling market.

Bassett and The Queen before the 1984 inaugural race in her name | Keeneland photo

Once again, then, the Japanese have been able to consolidate a program that will eventually leave the transatlantic gene pools to repent, too late, of their disastrous recent schism. One keen observer of the breed will surely not need reminding of what has been lost as a result. During the war her father bred a filly named Knight's Daughter, who was exported to Claiborne and a couple of years later delivered a Princequillo colt. His name was Round Table, and he won just the 43 of 66 starts.

By the same token, then, perhaps The Queen will also be glad to see a daughter of Tapit in the Keeneland race run in her name. The Gainesway phenomenon has been given mysteriously little opportunity in Europe, despite a dazzling winner of the historic Cambridgeshire H. from a very small sample of runners. Tapit's stock actually has a pretty respectable record on turf in the U.S., bearing in mind that it's an option typically only even tried for horses appearing short of ability on the main track. Certainly Flippant has been thriving on the grass, and we wish her connections well in a race they would prize dearly.

We can't all benefit from the length of perspective shared by Mr. Bassett and The Queen of England, now approaching a combined 195 years. But maybe Empress Josephine or Flippant, between them, can at least get a few people to see a slightly bigger picture.

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O'Brien saddles a representative of the Coolmore contingent in Empress Josephine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who adds blinkers for her second start at Keeneland. Winner of the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas May 23, the bay could only manage eighth next out in Royal Ascot's G1 Coronation S. June 18 and was a well-beaten sixth in the G1 Nassau S. July 29. Fourth in the G1 Matron S. Sept. 11, she was shipped Stateside to take on her elders in last weekend's GI First Lady S. in Lexington, where she finished third to the Brown-trained Blowout (GB) (Dansili {GB}). The connections' Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) wheeled back off a second in the 2011 First Lady to take that year's QE II.

Brown has two strong chances to best Empress Josephine yet again in Shantisara (Ire) (Coulsty {Ire}) and Technical Analysis (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). A two-time winner in Europe, Shantisara was privately purchased by these connections and transferred to Brown. Second in Monmouth's Boiling Springs S. in her first American start June 26, she captured Arlington's GIII Pucker Up S. Aug. 14 and followed suit with a win in Belmont's Jockey Club Oaks Invitational S. Sept. 18.

Technical Analysis kicked off this season with a Belmont optional claimer score Apr. 29 and was sixth in that venue's GIII Wonder Again S. June 3. The bay enters off of back-to-back victories at Saratoga in the July 23 GIII Lake George S. and Aug. 21 GII Lake Placid S.

Undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) faces her toughest competition yet in this first start outside of Canada. A good-looking debut winner at Woodbine in August of 2020, the Chuck Fipke homebred won the GI Natalma S. last September and was subsequently shelved. She made a victorious return 50 weeks later, wiring a Woodbine optional claimer Sept. 6.

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In terms of achievements, Shantisara (IRE) could be considered first based on money earned as she's just $12,000 short of a half-million dollars, the majority of that earned winning the non-graded but very classy $700,000 Jockey Club Oaks Invitational last month at Belmont Park.

Then there's Empress Josephine (IRE), who along with Nicest (IRE) has faced the toughest competition of any horse in the field. Empress Josephine (IRE) won the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas in May and comes back on six days rest after finishing third last week in the Grade 1 First Lady Stakes at Keeneland. Nicest (IRE) finished third in the Irish Oaks when last seen in mid-July and the horse that won the race is top European filly Snowfall, who recently finished sixth against some of the toughest males in the world in the Group 1 Prix De l'Arc de Triomphe.

Technical Analysis (IRE) enters this race off a victory in the Grade 2 Lake Placid Stakes, while Flippant just won the Virginia Oaks at the distance of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. Closing Remarks is another who has been competitive in top company as she finished second in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks in her most recent race. Burning Ambition is yet another recent stakes winner, having captured the Indiana Grand Stakes last month.

Cloudy Dawn (IRE) makes her North American debut and when last seen in August she was victorious in the Group 3 Prix de Lieurey so is another not to be taken lightly. Queen Goddess and Lady Speightspeare both enter this race off allowance wins and for Lady Speightspeare it was her first start following nearly a year away from the races. Just prior to the layoff she won the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes.

Empress Josephine (IRE) has the best credentials in the field and one of the best Equibase® Speed Figure earned by any filly in this group, a 113 when third last week in the First Lady Stakes at a shorter distance on the Keeneland Turf. In that race Empress Josephine (IRE) raced mid-pack in sixth of 12 in the early stages and steadily made up ground to finish third, just a half-length from the runner-up, with the winner another half-length in front. She had just run four weeks earlier in Ireland when fourth of 13, beaten a head for second, in the very important Group 1 Matron Stakes. That effort earned a 115 figure and she had earned a 114 figure in May when winning the Irish 1000 Guineas.

No other horse in the field, except Nicest (IRE), has broken through the 110 figure threshold so considering Empress Josephine (IRE) has done it three times this season, she appears to be the one to beat. As a daughter of amazing sire Galileo, Empress Josephine (IRE) should appreciate the extra eighth of a mile and she adds blinkers as well, likely suggested by top jockey John Velazquez, who returns to ride after being aboard last weekend. There's also no concern about the filly returning so quickly because her trainer is one of the best in the world in Aiden O'Brien, who according to a Race Lens query has only run two horses back on a week's rest in the past five years. One of those was Athena, who won the 2018 Belmont Oaks easily off a similarly short respite. Even more significant is the fact that Together (IRE), who was a daughter of Galileo and who was trained by O'Brien, finished second in the 2011 First Lady Stakes then went on to win the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup one week later.

Flippant may be a live longshot candidate although she has won three races in a row, two of those stakes races. Flippant won the Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks Stakes in August with a 98 figure then improved to 100 at the end of August when victorious in the Virginia Oaks at the same nine furlong trip of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. In the Virginia Oaks, Flippant put in a furious rally from 11th with a quarter mile to go and was never really asked as she lengthened her stride to win going away. The 100 figure earned is a far cry from any of the three best figures Empress Josephine (IRE) has earned but Flippant has the pattern to improve, and the breeding to run very well. The Race Lens report on her dam, Frivolous, shows that mare won the Grade 1 Fleur de Lis Stakes at this distance on dirt as well as won on turf, and the report on her sire Tapit shows me his daughter Time and Motion won the 2016 edition of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup so there is a lot of potential for this filly to run well.

Cloudy Dawn (IRE) and Nicest (IRE) are both nice fillies who have faced some tough competition in Europe and who could both have a say in the outcome of this race. Cloudy Dawn (IRE) just won a group three stakes in Europe, the equivalent of a grade two stakes in North American, and she was flattered when the runner-up came back to win her next race. Trainer William Haggas hasn't started many horses in North America in the past few years but one of them was Call to Mind, owned by Her Majesty the Queen, who shipped in to win the 2018 Belmont Gold Cup. Nicest (IRE) has been facing top company just like Empress Josephine (IRE) and that alone warrants consideration as a contender. She finished third of 13 in the Ribblesdale Stakes in June at Royal Ascot and followed that up with a third place finish behind top European three year old Snowfall in the Irish Oaks in mid-July. That last effort earned a 116 Equibase Figure and if she can repeat or improve off that effort nearly three months later she could certainly be in the thick of the action at the wire in this race.

The rest of the field, with their best Equibase® Speed Figures, is Burning Ambition (83), Closing Remarks (101), Lady Speightspeare (98), Queen Goddess (91), Shantisara (IRE) (101) and Technical Analysis (IRE) (100).

Top Win Contender:
Empress Josephine

Other contenders:
Flippant
Cloudy Dawn (IRE)
Nicest (IRE)

Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes presented by Dixiana – Grade 1
Race 8 at Keeneland
Saturday, Sept. 16 – Post Time 4:44 PM E.T.
One Mile and One Eighth on Turf
Fillies, Three Years Old
Purse: $500,000

You can get Ellis' full card detailed analysis and betting recommendations for all the races at Keeneland at Equibase.com, TrackMaster.com and most online wagering sites.

The post Equibase Analysis: Empress Josephine Could Rule In QEII Challenge Cup appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Brown has won the past four runnings of the 1-mile race and five overall. The only other trainer with multiple wins in the race was Brown's mentor, Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel. Brown's other winners are Dayatthespa (2014), A Raving Beauty (GER) (2018), and Uni (GB) in 2019 and 2020.

Both fillies came out of the race well along with sixth-place finisher Viadera (GB), according to Baldo Hernandez, Brown's assistant at Keeneland.

With the victory, Blowout received a fees-paid berth into the $2 million Grade 1 Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf to be run Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

Beaten a length for the $240,000 winner's share was Empress Josephine (IRE) for trainer Aidan O'Brien and the ownership group of Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith.

“She was very encouraging,” said Kieran Murphy, O'Brien's assistant. “The plan is to run her back Saturday (in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Presented by Dixiana) and I think the extra furlong should benefit her.”

Godolphin's Althiqa (GB), fourth as the favorite after a rough trip, is scheduled to begin her journey back to Europe Monday night.

“You just can't be that far back (early) at Keeneland,” said Christopher Durham, assistant to trainer Charlie Appleby.

The post Blowout Becomes Brown’s Fifth First Lady Winner Saturday At Keeneland appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Chad Brown-trained mare broke from post nine and jetted out to the lead in the opening strides of the one-mile stakes, drawing out to a two-length advantage entering the first turn. La Signare and Regal Glory trailed her within striking distance down the backstretch, but Blowout was able to run easily on the lead, setting fractions of :23.76 for the first quarter and :47.75 for the half mile.

Around the far turn, jockey Jose Ortiz made a bold move with Regal Glory, sending her zipping up on Blowout's outside, nearly on even terms entering the stretch. On the good Keeneland turf, the two entered the stretch dueling, with Ortiz and Regal Glory trying to get past Blowout in the race's final furlong. Under jockey Flavien Prat, Blowout was able to hold on, winning the G1 First Lady by a half-length. Empress Josephine was third. The final time for the one-mile stakes was 1:34.86.

Find this race's chart here.

Blowout paid $12.60, $6.40, and $4.80. Regal Glory paid $7.40 and $5.00. Empress Josephine paid $8.20.

The First Lady Stakes is a part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series. Winners receive a fees-paid, guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the corresponding Breeders' Cup race, to be held Nov. 6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

“She's a really special filly for us, for my boss, Chad Brown. She does everything we ask. She's improving a lot. She came here to Keeneland and gave a really good performance. She's as good as she can be. She tries every time she runs,” assistant trainer Baldo Hernandez said after the First Lady.

“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. 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,” jockey Flavien Prat told the Keeneland Communications Office after the race.

Bred in England by Dayton Investments Ltd., Blowout is a 5-year-old mare by Dansili (GB) out of the Deep Impact (JPN) mare Beauty Parlour (GB), winner of the 2012 French One Thousand Guineas. She is owned by Peter Brant and trained by Chad Brown. Blowout was consigned by The Castlebridge Consignment and sold for $481,095 to Whitebirch at the 2016 Goffs November Foals Sale. With her win in the G1 First Lady, she has two wins in three starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of five wins in 14 starts and career earnings of $988,600.

The post Blowout Outlasts Regal Glory To Win First Lady, Earn BC F&M Turf Spot appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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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).

The post European Shippers Althiqa, Empress Josephine Headline Deep Field For Keeneland’s First Lady appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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17.00 Curragh, Mdn, €16,500, 2yo, f, 7fT
Aidan O'Brien trainee TUESDAY (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}) is another to represent the Coolmore-Westerberg axis and she faces a deep field in this debut. The June-foaled bay is a full-sister to seven-time Group 1 heroine Minding (Ire) and this term's G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Empress Josephine (Ire). Her opposition includes Jim Bolger's Hymn Book Two (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), who is a half-sister to MG1SW sire Dawn Approach (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}); Mise Le Meas (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), a Johnny Murtagh-trained half-sister to G1 Falmouth S. victrix Nahoodh (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}); Shadwell homebred Alaroos (Ire) (Golden Horn {GB}), a half-sister to MGSW G1 Epsom Derby runner-up Madhmoon (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}), from the Kevin Prendergast stable; and Jessica Harrington trainee Discoveries (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), who is a once-raced full-sister to MG1SW G1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Alpha Centauri (Ire) and a half to last term's G1 Coronation S. victrix Alpha Lupi (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}).

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Empress Josephine is a daughter of Lillie Langtry (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), who won the Coronation herself for the Coolmore partners in 2010 en route to taking the G1 Matron S. later that season. Empress Josephine did not race at two but has been busy this spring, having run four times beginning with a debut victory on Mar. 28.

The post Empress Josephine Supplemented To Coronation appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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