British-bred filly favored in Keeneland race named for Queen Elizabeth II
Keeneland’s portion of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series is complete, but there’s still plenty of high stakes racing on tap at the Lexington track — including a contest named after the British monarch in which a British-born filly is favored.
Over the first four days of racing during Keeneland’s Fall Meet, 10 horses earned automatic bids into Breeders’ Cup World Championships contests. The championships will be held for the second time at Keeneland on Nov. 6-7, but in the meantime there’s more drama on the schedule in October.
Friday’s 10-race card is highlighted by the Grade 3, $150,000 Buffalo Trace Franklin County Stakes for fillies and mares. The Franklin County is race No. 9 and is scheduled to go to post at 5:30 p.m. Multiple Grade 1 winner Got Stormy leads the 12-horse field and is the 6-5 morning-line favorite for the 5 1/2-furlong turf contest.
Trained by Mark Casse, Got Stormy returned from a nearly yearlong layoff to win the Grade 3 Ladies Sprint Stakes at Kentucky Downs in September. The 5-year-old mare has earned more than $1.9 million in her career, with a record of 9-5-3 in 24 starts. In her only previous race at Keeneland she finished third in the Grade 1 Coolmore Jenny Wiley in 2019.
Got Stormy’s top competition in the Fayette County includes old rival Into Mystic — who finished third in the Ladies Sprint at Kentucky Downs — and Jakarta, who won a starter allowance last time out in September. Into Mystic and Jakarta are the co-second choices in the Fayette County at 6-1.
Saturday stakes
Two more stakes contests are in store at Keeneland during Saturday’s 10-race lineup. The Grade 2, $200,000 Hagyard Fayette Stakes is scheduled as race No. 8 at 4:57 p.m. The 10-horse field is led by Dale Romans trainee Mr. Freeze, who was on a roll before the coronavirus pandemic upended the Thoroughbred racing circuit along with nearly everything else in the sports world.
During a five-race span between between late 2019 and early 2020, Mr. Freeze hit the board in five straight stakes contests, winning the Grade 3 Ack Ack and Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile. After finishing third in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap in May, Mr. Freeze ran sixth in graded stakes races at Belmont Park and Churchill Downs. He’s the 3-1 morning-line favorite in the Fayette.
“He was the goods,” Romans told Marty McGee of the Daily Racing Form. “We were all set to run in Dubai and then everything fell apart … It’s time for him to turn it around. He’s really been training well. He’s primed for a big effort, absolutely.”
Mr. Freeze’s chief rival appears to be multiple graded stakes winner Tax, who enters the Fayette at odds of 7-2 coming off a fifth-place run in the Oaklawn Handicap in May.
Saturday’s ninth race, scheduled for 5:30 p.m., is the Grade 1, $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. Fittingly, Great Britain-bred rising star Magic Attitude is the 5-2 favorite for the 37th running of the race named after the current queen of the United Kingdom.
Trained by Arnaud Delacour, Magic Attitude traveled to Lexington coming off a 2 1/4-length victory in her U.S. debut in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational last month. Javier Castellano, a three-time winner of the Queen Elizabeth who steered Magic Attitude in the Belmont Oaks, is set to saddle up again and will break from post position four.
Antoinette, a Bill Mott trainee who finished second to Magic Attitude in the Belmont Oaks, has morning-line odds of 8-1 and will break from post No. 3 under James Graham. Another Mott trainee, Harvey’s Lil Goil, is the 3-1 second choice and will break from the inside post under Martin Garcia. Harvey’s Lil Goil won the Grade 3 Regret Stakes at Churchill Downs in June then finished third in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes in August.
Keeneland 2020 Fall Meet
When: Through Oct. 24 (no spectators allowed)
Race days: Wednesdays through Sundays
First post: 1:05 p.m.
