Find Joy surprises with Kent Stakes triumph

Find Joy rallied to take an upset win in the $50,000 Kent Stakes at Emerald Downs on Sunday. She paid $31.40 for her 1 1/4-length win over Princess Kennedy.

Find Joy broke sharply in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies, but Isaias Enriquez smartly eased her off what turned into a fast and contested pace.

While Rods Song was being pressured through quick interior fractions of 22.48 and 45.87 seconds by the even-money favorite My Heart Goes On, Find Joy was comfortably sitting mid-pack.

Enriquez started to move her into contention on the stretch turn and, after briefly waiting for room, she split horses at the top of the stretch. She made the lead at the 1/16 pole and then easily held off Princess Kennedy, who finished well but never looked like catching the winner.

Brookys Star was in the mix early, took over the lead mid-stretch, but came up empty late to finish third. My Heart Goes On tired to finish fourth.

“When she broke out of the gate she wanted to drag me to the lead,” Enriquez said. “I didn’t want her to be there, though, and she rated nicely when I took her back.”

Find Joy was coming off a disappointing sixth-place finish in the $50,000 Irish Day for trainer Frank Lucarelli.

“I don’t know why she ran so poorly in the Irish Day, but she was training a lot better coming into this race,” Lucarelli said. “I always thought she would improve going a route of ground.”

The Kentucky-bred daughter of Drosselmeyer is owned by David Taylor Jr. She posted a final time of 1:43.40.