Frivolous comes with big late rally to win Locust Grove

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Frivolous proved clearly superior when rallying from well off the pace to post an eight-length victory in the $100,000 Locust Grove Stakes, the last of four Saturday stakes at Churchill Downs.

Unlike her 32-1 upset here in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis in June, when she was prominent throughout, Frivolous left plenty to do when sent away the strong favorite in a field of 10 fillies and mares in the 1 1/16-mile Locust Grove. She was ninth in the early going, but jockey Jon Court said he was not worried after Frivolous “really started to take a hold of the bit midway down the backside.”

The winner paid $4.60 after finishing in 1:43.85 over a fast track.

Bred and owned by G. Watts Humphrey, Frivolous now has won 5 of 22 career starts. Humphrey’s daughter, Vicki Oliver, trains the 5-year-old Empire Maker mare at Keeneland.

Flashy American was up late to get second, a half-length before Diva’s Diamond.

For Humphrey and his daughter, the stakes victory was the second in less than a week, following She’s Not Here in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon on Sept. 6 at Del Mar.

The $2 exacta (6-3) paid $31.80, the $1 trifecta (6-3-9) returned $93.80, and the 10-cent superfecta (6-3-9-5) was worth $50.23.