Blowout gives trainer Brown fourth consecutive First Lady win

Brown won Grade 1 gold and silver on two greens Saturday.

An hour after running one-two with Rockemperor and Serve the King in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on the Belmont grass course, trainer Chad Brown ran one-two on the Keeneland turf when Blowout held off Regal Glory in the Grade 1 First Lady Stakes.

And that made four – four First Ladies in a row for Brown, who won the race in 2020 and 2019 with Uni and in 2018 with A Raving Beauty.

The First Lady was the third grass race on the Saturday card at Keeneland, where the course was rated “good,” and front-runners won all three. Blowout, with Flavien Prat in the irons, went straight to the front from post 9 and set a solid tempo, 23.76 and 47.75 while opening two lengths on a chasing pack that included Abscond, La Signare, and Regal Glory.

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In eight of her last nine starts, Blowout had held a lead in the homestretch, but in six of those races she’d been passed by at least one horse. On Saturday, she ran resolutely. As Regal Glory shrugged off the other two pace pressers the tempo quickened into the homestretch, the furlong between the quarter pole and the eighth pole going in 11.49 seconds, the fastest part of the race. Regal Glory closed to within a half-length of Blowout at the stretch call, but could get no closer, Blowout holding firm to the wire.

The winner stopped the timer in 1:34.86, paying $12.80 to win, and getting a 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

A half-length behind Regal Glory came Irish shipper Empress Josephine, who finished with interest on the far outside after a ground-saving stalking trip but lacked the required late acceleration.

In fourth was 13-10 favorite Althiqa, who had won the Grade 1 Just a Game and the Grade 1 Diana this year in two previous stateside trips from England. This time, Althiqua ran out of luck, encountering traffic trouble after saving ground and following Empress Josephine into the homestretch. Jamie Spencer steered Althiqua to the rail, where she had room to close, but Althiqa couldn’t deliver the same burst she’d produced in her last two wins.

Abscond, the Brown-trained Viadera, Harvey’s Lil Goil, bad-trip Daddy Is a Legend, Dalika, Hendy Woods, Star Command, and La Signare completed the order of finish. Princess Grace scratched.

Peter Brant owns both Blowout and Regal Glory. Blowout, a 5-year-old by Dansili out of Beauty Parlour, by Deep Impact, won her fifth race and first Grade 1.

The First Lady is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, offering the winner guaranteed fees-paid entry into the BC Filly and Mare Turf and travel expenses to Del Mar. Blowout never has raced beyond 1 1/16 miles and the Filly and Mare Turf is contested at 1 3/8 miles this year.