Blame Debbie leads them all the way in Dowager Stakes

Blame Debbie continued to show her affinity for Keeneland, remaining unbeaten at the Lexington track with a tenacious head victory as the only 3-year-old in the field for the Grade 3, $125,000 Dowager Stakes for fillies and mares on the turf Sunday evening.

Blame Debbie, a Blame filly, won her maiden on the Keeneland dirt in her second career start last fall, then went on to finish third in the Grade 3 Demoiselle on the Aqueduct dirt. This year, the filly – who is trained by Graham Motion for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, breeder Timothy Thornton, and Michael Cloonan – went winless in her first five starts of the season, including off-the-board finishes in graded stakes on the turf at Tampa Bay and Saratoga.

Blame Debbie got back in the win column with an allowance victory Oct. 2 on the Keeneland turf. She wheeled back and added more distance for the 1 1/2-mile Dowager just more than two weeks later and was sent away as the favorite off her recent victory.

:: Want to get your Past Performances for free? Click to learn more.

The distance proved to be no problem for the filly, thanks to a canny ride by Manny Franco. Blame Debbie ($5) broke sharply to head out to the lead, but Franco then slowed the pace to ration her energy. On a turf course rated firm, she led by a length through an opening quarter in 26.66 seconds and remained unpressured through a half in 53.68.

“Initially, we were like, ‘Whoa, Manny. Slow down,’ " said Jane Buchanan, racing manager for Motion. "Then he did. He got her settled brilliantly."

Always Shopping, who raced in second throughout, cut into Blame Debbie's margin and came within a head of her at the quarter pole. She could come no closer as, in a prolonged drive, Blame Debbie dug in to maintain her head advantage to the wire. She finished the 1 1/2 miles in 2:34.74.

“She was so nice and so game in the lead," Franco said. "I think she felt that other horse coming by the five-sixteenths pole to the wire. She never let that one pass her. I was really pleased. I was riding to the wire, and she responded to me the whole way.”

After the top two, it was 2 1/4 lengths back to With Dignity, who raced in third throughout and held that position by a half-length over Over Thinking.