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HorseRacing

The Thrilling Victories in the Falls City and Cardinal Stakes

2024-11-28

In the 109th running of the Grade 3, $400,000 Falls City Stakes, Loved emerged as the dominant force. Breaking from post 6, she raced between horses in fifth place up the backstretch. Enclosure held an uncontested lead with splits of 23.60, 47.41, and 1:11.76. Loved then moved into third nearing the second turn and showed her full potential. Musical Mischief, the winner of September’s $400,000 Locust Grove (G3), and Loved caught Enclosure midway around the turn. But Loved dashed past Musical Mischief at the top of the stretch with a three-wide move and took charge with a three-length lead. She held off 8-5 favorite Tarifa and easily won by 3 3/4 lengths. Trained by Brendan Walsh and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Loved ran 1 1/8 miles over a muddy track in 1:50.17 to collect her first graded-stakes win. In July, the 5-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro won the black-type, $100,000 Mari Hulman George Memorial Handicap at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Loved paid $10.64, $4.78, and $3.12 as the 4-1 third betting choice. With the Falls City win, Loved improved her record to five wins in 10 starts and jumped her earnings to $585,955. She was bred in Kentucky by her owner and is out of the Bernardini mare Velvety.

Godolphin's Fillies Shine in Thanksgiving Feature

Details of Loved's Victory in the Falls City Stakes

Loved's journey to this victory was a remarkable one. A late bloomer, she showed plenty of promise during her 4-year-old season with three consecutive victories by a combined 28 lengths in the first half of 2023. These included a maiden win and triumphs in first- and second-level allowance conditions. Her stakes debut in the $500,000 Molly Pitcher (G3) at Monmouth Park in July 2023 was a fourth-place finish as the second betting choice. But she came back stronger and delivered a commanding performance in the Falls City Stakes. Her trainer, Brendan Walsh, was confident in her coming into the race. She had been training at Turfway and within the last three weeks really started to put things together. She was training and moving great in the mornings, and it showed on the track when it mattered.

The race itself was a thrilling display of speed and determination. Loved had to navigate through a crowded field and make her move at the right time. She showed exceptional tactical acumen and executed her race plan to perfection. Her victory was a testament to her talent and the hard work of her team. It was a moment of pride for Godolphin, who owned the top two finishers. Loved's win added another feather to her cap and solidified her status as a top-class filly.

Impressive Performances in the Cardinal Stakes

Duvet Day also had a remarkable day at Churchill Downs. A 5-year-old mare owned by Jane Bacharach, William DeBurgh, and Richard Schatz, Duvet Day ran 1 1/8 miles over firm turf in 1:48.79 to collect the first graded-stakes win of her career. She was coming off a seventh-place finish in the $296,738 Dowager (G3) at Keeneland over 1 1/2 miles on turf in October. But she relished a cutback in distance and used an explosive late kick in deep stretch to rally from the back and defeat 9-5 favorite She’s Lookin Lucky by three-quarters of a length.

Trained by Michael McCarthy and ridden by Flavien Prat, Duvet Day was the 10-1 sixth betting choice. Prat, the leading U.S. jockey, executed his race plan to perfection. He got Duvet Day to relax early and then tipped her outside with a little more than a furlong to run. The mare displayed a powerful late kick and caught She’s Lookin Lucky in the final yards. The victory was worth $147,250 and increased her earnings to $420,538. Duvet Day boasts a record of 24: 4-5-4 and is a daughter of Starspangledbanner out of Montjeu mare Je T’Adore, bred in Ireland by John Yarr.