Good Cheer gets back on the beam in Iowa Distaff
It's been more than a year since her last trip to the winner's circle, but Good Cheer may have started a new winning streak on Friday evening, loping to a five-length win in the $100,000 Iowa Distaff in her 4-year-old debut.
The Iowa Distaff was the first of eight stakes carded at Prairie Meadows between Friday and Saturday's cards, comprising the Iowa Festival of Racing, with those stakes programs worth a combined $1.275 million.
Good Cheer ($2.40), a Godolphin homebred trained by Brad Cox, won the first seven starts of her career, culminating with the 2025 Kentucky Oaks. However, she lost her next three outings, and a sixth-place finish when last seen under colors last September in the Grade 1 Cotillion in Pennsylvania prompted her connections to put her away for the season and freshen her.
Good Cheer has been on a steady work pattern recently, and her most recent move at Churchill Downs convinced Cox it was time to get her back in the entry box. The Iowa Distaff seemed a good place to build from timing-wise, and it also avoided conflicts with the owner and barn's other runners in the division in recent stakes.
"I think it's a good spot to get a year started," Cox said earlier this week. "I'm pretty confident she's happy, healthy, and pretty fit, so it's time to get our year started, because it's gonna be halfway over with."
Good Cheer, sent away heavily favored with regular rider Luis Saez in the irons, took over under her own power around the far turn from Queen Azteca, the only other graded or group stakes winner in the small field of five. In the stretch, Queen Azteca was getting left-handed encouragement with the stick, but Saez, glancing under his arm for competition, never asked Good Cheer for run as she continued to the wire.
"That was pretty easy," Saez said. "We were pretty confident with her. The whole connections have done an amazing job. I don't know their plans [for a next start], but I know she's getting ready for big stuff."
Queen Azteca was handily best of the rest, by 1 1/2 lengths. The time for the 1 1/16 miles on the fast track was 1:43.71.
Iowa Oaks
As far as this year's 3-year-old fillies go, rising star Mizumi remained unbeaten with a win in the $225,000 Iowa Oaks, the richest single race of the evening.
A victory for favored Mizumi ($3.20) looked somewhat improbable on the far turn, as in a tightly bunched group of four, she was shuffled back to last, and Florent Geroux was asking even before the stretch. Meanwhile, up front, Grade 2-placed Brooklyn Blonde had popped her head in front of early leader Knickleandime approaching the head of the stretch, and she extended to a length lead once straightened away.
But Mizumi wasn't done yet. Geroux got her in gear on the outside, and she came with a rush, surging clear by 1 1/4 lengths at the line while confidently handled.
Geroux largely chalked the unusual run up to inexperience for Mizumi. The filly won her first two starts, including the Grade 3 Sumemrtime Oaks, in California for Bob Baffert.
"I needed to encourage her," Geroux said. "She's very lightly raced, so she doesn't know how to run like some of the others. It's her third start, and shipping for the first time out of California, so it was a little bit of an obstacle for her to pass. But she was very brave, and I knew [she would run on] as soon as we straightened away and she swapped leads."
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Brooklyn Blonde was easily second best by six lengths over Knickleandime. The fillies finished the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.54.
Saylorville
Paradise City ($4.40) remained unbeaten on the season, with a game win kicking clear by 1 1/2 lengths on the inside in the $100,000 Saylorville Stakes sprinting. The filly, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. for a large partnership headed by C2 Racing Stable, previously won an allowance last month at Churchill Downs in her first start in well over six months, and in a move back to dirt after competing on turf to end 2025.
Paradise City, ridden by Micah Husbands, finished the six furlongs in 1:09.25.
Prairie Gold Lassie
The Iowa-bred Wild Vekoma ($9.60) scored a win for the locals in the $100,000 Prairie Gold Lassie. The 2-year-old filly races as a homebred for Jim Jorgenson and remained unbeaten in two starts for trainer Tristan Ashford after a local debut score last month. She was up by half a length in the Lassie over Cardio Cat and finished the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04.74.
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