Filly Good Cheer stays unbeaten, rallying in the mud to win 151st Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs
Louisville-born trainer Brad Cox watched the heavy 6-5 favorite cover 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.15 with Luis Saez aboard. Good Cheer paid $4.78, $3.62 and $3.02 for her seventh dominant victory.
The bay daughter of Megdalia d'Oro and Wedding Toast by Street entered the Oaks with a combined victory margin of more than 42 lengths, and on Friday, she added more distance to her resume with a stunning surge over a mushy track.
Cox, who grew up blocks from Churchill Downs, earned his third Oaks win and Saez his second.
Drexel Hill paid $21.02 and $11.76 for second while Bless the Broken was third and returned $4.78.
A thunderstorm that roared through about two hours before the scheduled post left the track soggy and sent many of the 100,910 fans seeking shelter at the track's urging. The $1.5 million showcase for 3-year-old fillies was delayed by 10 minutes, and the conditions proved to be a minor nuisance for Good Cheer.
She was off the pace after starting from the No. 11 post but well within range of the leaders before charging forward through the final turns. Good Cheer was fourth entering the stretch and closed inside and into the lead, pulling away for her fourth win at Churchill Downs and second in the mud.
Jockey Luis Saez talks about his trip riding Kentucky Oaks winner Good Cheer and what makes the 3-year-old filly so special.
Brad Cox talks with Kenny Rice after his 3-year-old filly Good Cheer claims victory in the Kentucky Oaks to remain perfect for her career so far.
Godolphin USA's Michael Banahan accepts the Kentucky Oaks trophy at Churchill Downs and discusses how Good Cheer became the "perfect filly" for the race.
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UPI
a day ago
- UPI
Fillies She Feels Pretty, Nitrogen, Velocity star in weekend racing
1 of 3 | She Feels Pretty wins Saturday's Grade I E.P. Taylor at Woodbine, earning a Breeders' Cup bid. Photo by Michael Burns, courtesy of Woodbine Aug. 18 (UPI) -- It was fillies on parade in weekend horse racing as She Feels Pretty held off the Godolphin invasion in Canada, Nitrogen raised a hoof for division honors with an impressive win at Saratoga and Velocity upset the Del Mar Oaks. Mansetti won a competitive edition of the King's Plate at Woodbine and there was 2-year-old action hither and yon, on dirt and turf. In France, Sunday's Group 1 The Aga Khan Studs Prix Jacques le Marois was everything promised and more. Here's more ... Distaff Nitrogen seized the lead turning for home in Saturday's $600,000 Grade I Alabama for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga and, despite wandering around in the final furlong, held off the favorite, Good Cheer, to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Margie's Intention was fourth. La Cara, who led all the way to win the Grade I Acorn in her last start with Good Cheer fifth, set a very slow pace in the Alabama and held the lead to the turn, but faded to finish fourth. Queen Azteca, from Norway via Dubai to Saratoga, was not in the mix and finished fifth. Nitrogen, by Medaglia d'Oro, now is a Grade I winner on dirt and has multiple graded stakes placings on turf. Overall, she has won six of 10 starts and never been worse than third. Kentucky Oaks winner Good Cheer, also by Medaglia d'Oro, suffered her second straight defeat after starting her career with a seven-race win skein, but trainer Brad Cox said her effort into an unfavorable pace scenario showed she's still a credible force in the division. Filly & Mare Turf She Feels Pretty defended local honor against the invading Godolphin forces and scored a "Win and You're In" berth in the Breeders' Cup World Championships in Saturday's $750,000 Grade I E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine. The 4-year-old Karakontie filly, with John Velazquez aboard for trainer Cherie DeVaux, came five-wide to take the lead in the stretch in the 1 1/4-mile contest. Diamond Rain, making her first top-level start with William Buick riding for Charlie Appleby, followed in her wake and was moving well at the end, but came up a head short. Velazquez said She Feels Pretty was soundly bumped and suffered cuts during the backstretch run and "from then on, it was a wrestling match with her ... but she got it done." She Feels Pretty, racing for Lael Stables, racked up her eighth victory in 12 starts and has never been worse than third. Five of the eight wins came in Grade I races. Breeders' Cup? "Most definitely," DeVaux said. Out west at Del Mar, Velocity rallied into contention with about a furlong to run in Saturday's $300,000 Grade I Del Mar Oaks, and then took the rail route through the stretch and outfinished Lush Lips, winning by 1/2 length over her. The favorite, Thought Process, was third and British invader Take a Breath finished fourth. Velocity, dispatched at odds of 35-1, ran 1 1/8 miles on firm turf in 1:48.45. Ricardo Gonzalez rode for trainer Michael McCarthy. Velocity, a Nyquist filly, finished fourth in the Grade III Senorita Stakes in April, and then got a three-month break before winning an allowance event July 20 in preparation for the Oaks. Alpha Bella had 'em all the way in Friday's $100,000 CTT & TOC Stakes at Del Mar and edged clear late to a 2 3/4-length victory. The 4-year-old Justify mare, a Don Alberto homebred, ran 1 3/8 miles on firm turf in 2:17.32. Hector Berrios rode for trainer John Sadler. Classic Saturday's $1 million (Canadian) King's Plate for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds always looked to be a wide-open affair and that's how it played out. 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Along the way: Bobrovsky won Saturday's $150,000 Skidmore Stakes at Saratoga while Snow Face Princess took Sunday's companion $150,000 Bolton Landing for fillies. Two Out Hero won Saturday's $150,000 (Canadian) bet 364 Soaring Free Stakes at Woodbine and Corsia Veloce scored in the companion Catch a Glimpse stakes for fillies. Juvenile / Juvenile Fillies Smarty Hardy won Saturday's $100,000 Prairie Meadows Freshman Stakes in Iowa by 3 lengths afer Ritzaphena scored in Friday's $100,000 Prairie Meadows Debutante. Dazzling Dame drew off late to win Sunday's $100,000 Sorority Stakes at Monmouth Park by 2 lengths. Around the world, around the clock: France Diego Velazquez, carrying the famous Sangster family colors, seized the lead late in the 1,600 meters of Sunday's Group 1 The Aga Khan Studs Prix Jacques le Marois and just did hold off Godolphin's Notable Speech. 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Yahoo
09-08-2025
- Yahoo
Good Cheer, Take Charge Milady Log Workouts For Alabama
Good Cheer, Take Charge Milady Log Workouts For Alabama originally appeared on Paulick Report. Godolphin's Kentucky Oaks (G1)-winning homebred Good Cheer breezed a half-mile in :48.25 over the Saratoga Race Course main track on Saturday as she prepares for the $600,000 Alabama (G1) presented by Keeneland Sales going 1 1/4 miles next Saturday at the Spa. Trained by Brad Cox, the Medaglia d'Oro bay was 7-for-7 before a last-out fifth in the nine-furlong DK Horse Acorn (G1) on June 6 at the upstate New York track. Regular rider Luis Saez was aboard Good Cheer for Saturday's move as she completed her preparations to return from the over two-month layoff. 'She looked great,' Blake Cox said, on-site for the breeze as the assistant trainer to his father Brad. '48 and change, out in 1:01. Luis was on her. Nice smooth half, out five-eighths, I'm very happy with that.' Good Cheer was flat in the Acorn when finishing 9 1/4 lengths back of probable returning rival La Cara over the sloppy and sealed main track. Blake Cox said the bay is showing the right signs going into the Alabama. 'She's doing great,' said Cox. 'She has put on weight since the Acorn. Luis got off of her today and said, 'That felt like the work right before the Kentucky Oaks.'' Good Cheer has earned over $1.7 million and is in the conversation for Champion 3-Year-Old Filly through her Kentucky Oaks score and annual Grade 2 scores in the Rachel Alexandra and Fair Grounds Oaks at Fair Grounds. Cox added that Baron Stable and WinStar Farm's Margie's Intention, the Black-Eyed Susan (G2) winner in May at Pimlico, remains under consideration for the Alabama and will work on Sunday at Saratoga. Take Charge Milady Breezes Half Mile James Ball, Magdalena Racing and Kenneth Rhodes' Grade 1-placed Take Charge Milady breezed on Saturday over Saratoga Race Course's Oklahoma dirt training track, covering a half-mile in 48.44 seconds to the outside of maiden Delicious Diva. Take Charge Milady is gearing up for a likely start in the Alabama. Trained by Ken McPeek, the daughter of Take Charge Indy was last seen finishing last-of-4 in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) on July 19 at Saratoga after tracking wide and failing to threaten in the late stages. She earned a Grade 1-placing when second to Alabama aspirant La Cara in the Ashland (G1) in April at Keeneland. 'She worked good, a maintenance work to keep her happy,' said McPeek's assistant Francisco Serrano. 'Her last race was a short field, and she was outside, so I think that cost her.' Take Charge Milady won her first two starts this year when graduating at third asking and coming back to win the Martha Washington (L), both at Oaklawn Park. She went on to finish off-the-board in the Kentucky Oaks on May 2 at Churchill Downs, but rebounded with a neck victory over reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Immersive in the Monomoy Girl on June 14 at the Louisville track. The $60,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase is out of the winning Scat Daddy mare Price too High, and boasts a lifetime record of 9-3-2-0 with $568,669 in total purse earnings. This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Aug 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Yahoo
Admiral Dennis Draws Outside In Ellis Park Derby
Admiral Dennis Draws Outside In Ellis Park Derby originally appeared on Paulick Report. Albaugh Family Stables' improving 3-year-old Admiral Dennis, winner of the Delaware Derby in mid-June, will lead a field of eight colts entered in Sunday's eighth running of the $300,000 Ellis Park Derby presented by Hallway Feeds (Listed), the featured race on a stakes-filled card at Ellis Park Racing & at one mile, the Ellis Park Derby goes as race 8 on the 10-race program that also features the $200,000 Groupie Doll (Listed), the $200,000 Audubon Oaks, the $200,000 R.A. "Cowboy" Jones, the $200,000 Ellis Park Juvenile, and the $200,000 Ellis Park Debutante. First post for the card is 11:50 a.m. (all times Central) with the Ellis Park Derby field going to post at 3:12 p.m. as race 8. Trained by 2024 Ellis Park Derby winning conditioner Brad Cox, Admiral Dennis scored a breakthrough 3 ¼-length victory in the June 14 Delaware Derby. A son of Constitution, Admiral Dennis' two other victories include a 3 ½-legnth maiden special weight victory in November at Churchill Downs and a three-quarters of a length score in a first-level allowance in January at Fair Grounds. Luan Machado, who rode Admiral Dennis to victory in the Delaware Derby, will have the call in Sunday's race from post No. the other 3-year-olds in the field include Chick Lang Stakes winner Retribution, recent six-length local allowance winner Big Boat, and trainer Brian Lynch's improving duo of Grade 1 Woody Stephens third-place finisher Big Truzz and Jimmy's Dailys, who will run for the first time since his sixth-place finish in the Florida Derby (G1) in late March. The field for the Ellis Park Derby from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):Brodeur (Jaime Torres, Ethan West)Sinister Smile (Edgar Morales, Genaro Garcia)Jimmy's Dailys (Mario Gutierrez, Lynch)Retribution (Brian Hernandez Jr., Cherie DeVaux)Master Controller (Chris Emigh, Brittany Vanden Berg)Big Truzz (Tyler Gaffalione, Lynch)Big Boat (Orlando Mojica, Jimmy DiVito)Admiral Dennis (Machado, Cox) This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Aug 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
