Denim and Pearls looks sharp, dominates Beaumont Stakes
?q=100)
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Connections hoped Denim and Pearls would be a Kentucky Oaks horse this spring. She’s not, but Sunday at Keeneland, cut back from two routes to a long sprint, she looked like a very good one-turn filly winning the Grade 2, $400,000 Beaumont Stakes by 9 1/4 lengths.
Stalking the pace under Flavien Prat, Demin and Pearls broke from the fence but quickly was taken a few paths off the rail to track a lively pace set by longshot Viscountess. She followed her Brad Cox-trained stablemate, even-money favorite Youalmosthadme, to the three-furlong marker, the Cox horses overwhelming the pacesetter before the five-sixteenths pole. Denim and Pearls clearly was going better than Youalmosthadme, took her measure at the quarter pole, changed leads on cue, and with Prat hand-riding her to finish drew clear to a blowout victory.
Winning time over the Beard Course’s seven furlongs and 184 feet was a solid 1:26.54. Denim and Pearls, the clear second choice, paid $5.58. Harbor Springs’ connections eschewed a Friday first-level allowance for the Beaumont and were rewarded with a graded-stakes placing, the filly a distant second, three lengths better than Youalmosthadme. Chi Chi was fourth, third choice Tipsy Tammy fifth after getting crunched out of the starting gate, and Viscountess last of six.
:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.
“She got herself into the race and I was able to get myself in a clean spot where she was comfortable,” Prat said. “She just did it on her own. When we got to the quarter-pole, she obviously grabbed the bridle.”
Denim and Pearls, owned by Randy Gullat’s Red White and Blue Racing, is by Into Mischief out of Majestic Presence, by Majestic Warrior. She was bred in Kentucky by Town and Country Horse Farms and now is 3 for 3 in one-turn races, including a debut victory at Keeneland last fall. Second in a pair of two-turn stakes at Oaklawn Park, Denim and Pearls finished off her route races like a horse who didn’t truly want two turns.
“We thought she was a filly that would stretch,” said Cox, who won the Beaumont for the third year in a row. “She’s a full [sister] to Newgate, a Grade 1 winner at 1 1 1/4 miles. It is what it is. The owners obviously recognized it. We didn't want to beat her up trying to pursue the Oaks.”
Denim and Pearls could pursue the Eight Belles Stakes next month at Churchill Downs, another one-turn race, right in her wheelhouse.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.