The 4-year-old filly Chop Chop won the first two starts of her career, turf races, and was beaten a nose on dirt in the Grade 1 Alcibiades in October 2022. She may only now be finding her true calling. After a decent if not dazzling winter at Turfway Park, Chop Chop got a chance to do something new during the Keeneland meet in April – run a marathon distance on turf. She liked it. Chop Chop cruised to a 2 1/4-length victory in the 1 1/2-mile Bewitch and gets a second look in a 12-furlong grass contest Saturday at Churchill Downs, where she’ll start as the favorite in the $250,000 Keertana Stakes. “It definitely opens up a whole different set of races for us,” said Brad Cox, who trains Chop Chop. “I wouldn’t say the marathons are something we always have to do, but she handled it really well last time.” Since the April 26 Bewitch, Chop Chop has worked twice over the Churchill grass course, which, her trainer said, she has gotten over smoothly enough. Cox sees no reason Chop Chop should regress in the Keertana, and she retains her regular jockey, Axel Concepcion. If Chop Chop runs in Louisville like she did in Lexington, she’s probably a winner. The three horses immediately behind her in the Bewitch return for the Keertana, and three new rivals are no better – and probably worse – than they. Sand and Sea, who didn’t race in the Bewitch, brings a pace element to the Keertana that the Bewitch lacked, but Chop Chop can stick close enough. Atomic Blonde, making her first start since suffering a publicly noted incident of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhaging last November in the Long Island Stakes, ran on solidly enough for second in the Bewitch, but the mare has failed to win any of her eight races since coming to America from Europe. Atomic Blonde might not quite fully stay 1 1/2 miles, though the same could be said of Vergara, third in the Bewitch, more than four lengths behind Atomic Blonde. Vergara has won twice the last two years, both times over about 1 5/16 miles at Kentucky Downs, and her best finish at a mile and a half is a third in three tries. That said, trainer Graham Motion believes Vergara, as much as anything, tired late in the Bewitch, her first start since November. “She’s trained very well, trained very well over the winter, and I don’t see why she wouldn’t improve from that run,” Motion said. Motion also sends out Heavenly Appointed, who comes with jockey Kevin Gomez, whom Motion said “kind of figured her out” winning three in a row on the 4-year-old filly. Heavenly Appointed makes her first start in stakes competition and first beyond 1 1/8 miles – a wild card. “I’m kind of reaching a little bit, but she could get black type,” Motion said. “We always thought she wanted to go farther.” Chop Chop has already proven that she does. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.