Enola Gay wins blanket finish in Appalachian Stakes

A delayed Keeneland meeting worked out just fine timing-wise for Enola Gay. Making her first start in eight months, Enola Gay ran down Walk In Marrakesh and favored Alms in the final strides to post a nose victory in the Grade 3, $150,000 Appalachian Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the turf on Saturday.

With a quarter-mile remaining in the one-mile Appalachian, Enola Gay ($12.60) and jockey Julien Leparoux were still fourth in the field of six, about 2 1/2 lengths back. Meanwhile, graded stakes winner Alms, who was seeking to rebound from her first defeat, had poked her head in front of pacesetter Evil Lyn. But before Alms could open any ground on Evil Lyn, she was headed by Walk In Marrakesh on the outside. Those two dueled down the lane, with Walk In Marrakesh inching ahead in the final furlong. However, Enola Guy uncorked a strong rally on the outside to nail the two favorites in the final jumps. Walk In Marrakesh finished second, with Alms a head back in third.

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The final time for the mile on turf rated firm was 1:33.97.

Enola Gay, an Uncle Mo filly trained by Shug McGaughey for Allen Stable, won her debut, which came at Kentucky Downs last September, then finished fourth in the Stewart Manor Stakes on Nov. 10 at Aqueduct. After wintering at Payson Park in Florida, where she breezed three times beginning May 2, she turned in five straight works at Belmont, the three most recent on the inner turf.

“She had trained really well up here," McGaughey told Keeneland by phone from New York. "We were taking a little shot. She hadn’t run for a while, but she had trained so well.

“It looks like to me now that she wants to run a little bit farther. So we’ll see how she comes out of it. She’ll go to Saratoga tomorrow.”