Good Cheer starts year in Iowa Distaff
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The richest race on Friday’s Prairie Meadows card is the $225,000 Iowa Oaks. But the thunder is stolen from this year’s 3-year-old fillies by one of last year’s standouts, Kentucky Oaks winner Good Cheer, who gets her campaign and the Iowa Festival of Racing started as the headliner in the $100,000 Iowa Distaff.
Friday and Saturday evenings’ cards at Prairie Meadows comprise the state’s Festival of Racing, with four stakes on each program worth a combined $1.275 million.
“The Festival of Racing weekend is one of the highlights of our racing season, and we’re excited to welcome horses and connections from all corners of the country,” Prairie Meadows CEO Brian Ohorilko said. “It’s exciting to see horses from so many different states compete on our track, and we’re proud to provide a stage where the industry’s top talent can come together and create a truly memorable weekend for our fans and participants alike.”
Good Cheer, a Godolphin homebred trained by Brad Cox, is making her first start since September. The filly won her first seven career starts, all by open lengths, culminating with her 2 1/4-length victory in the 2025 Kentucky Oaks on a wet-fast track. Five weeks later, she incurred her first career loss when fifth after brushing the gate on a sloppy, sealed track in the Grade 1 Acorn at Saratoga.
Good Cheer turned in a stronger effort later that summer in the Grade 1 Alabama when second to the Saratoga-loving Nitrogen, the eventual divisional champion. However, Good Cheer then weakened to sixth in the Grade 1 Cotillion in September at Parx Racing, and the decision was made to stop on her for the season.
“She had had a long year. She’d never had a break,” Cox said. “We thought it made a lot of sense. The Godolphin team thought it made a lot of sense just to give her a break, freshen her up.”
Good Cheer returned to the work tab in February at Payson Park in Florida and was “doing great,” posting three breezes before “she got a little bit of an issue behind,” Cox said. After a brief respite, she returned to serious training and has been steady since.
Good Cheer got back on the work tab June 5 at Churchill Downs and has posted five consecutive breezes. A solid half-mile move on June 28, followed by a strong five furlongs on July 4, told Cox it was time to find a spot for her.
Good Cheer is a leggy, scopey filly. The fact that she is not a heavy horse has helped her return to race fitness relatively quickly. However, she has developed physically from the last time she was seen under colors.
“She’s a bigger version of herself,” Cox said. “I think she’s holding her weight better this year, maybe, than last. There were times, maybe leading up to the Oaks, I was thinking, ‘You know, I just wish I could get a little bit more weight on her.’ And it’s tough training a racehorse that’s this light, because you do have to maintain the fitness you have, and obviously competing at a high level, you want to feel like you’re not leaving anything on the table. I know that she’s definitely developed physically from 3 to 4.”
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Queen Azteca is the only other graded or group stakes winner in the 1 1/16-mile Iowa Distaff field. While her back class does not match that of Good Cheer, she has a recency edge and is well drawn on the rail to use the speed she has shown in some top efforts.
A Group 3 winner in Dubai, Queen Azteca is stakes-placed in her current campaign at Oaklawn Park and Colonial Downs. She was cross-entered in the Mari Hulman George Memorial Handicap on Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis, but trainer Rodolphe Brisset said in a message Wednesday that the filly will run in Iowa.
Quiet I’m Not is stakes-placed against her fellow Iowa-breds and coming off an allowance win at Prairie Meadows. Popperina, stakes-placed through a disqualification at Prairie Meadows; allowance winner Miss Authentic; and maiden-claiming winner Starwood complete the field.
Iowa Oaks
While the Iowa Distaff includes last year’s Kentucky Oaks winner, the Iowa Oaks field includes several who flirted with this year’s Kentucky Oaks trail. Four of the six entrants earned points in designated races along the trail to the filly classic, but only one, Brooklyn Blonde, actually made the starting gate, finishing 13th.
After shortening up to run fourth in the Leslie’s Lady, also at Churchill Downs, Brooklyn Blonde may face softer company here. She’s also back at the 1 1/16-mile distance at which she turned in her best effort, finishing second in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks to Meaning.
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Mizumi looks to continue her ascent in this division for Bob Baffert. The filly won her debut going 6 1/2 furlongs May 2, then successfully stretched out to 1 1/16 miles to win the Grade 3 Summertime Oaks on June 13. Venturing out of California for the first time, she is cross-entered in Saturday’s Grade 3 Indiana Oaks but is considered most likely to run in Iowa.
Mizumi has good tactical speed but would prefer to stalk the pace. From the rail, she’ll have to work out a trip with speed types Knickleandime, Shilling, and Grace Is Free immediately to her outside. Grace Is Free is coming off back-to-back wins in the Goldfinch and Panthers at Prairie Meadows.
Saylorville Stakes
Along with the Iowa Distaff, older fillies and mares have a sprint opportunity on the card in the $100,000 Saylorville Stakes.
Thunders Rocknroll and Blue Squall were one-two in the Prairie Rose Stakes under similar conditions locally June 12. Since then, Minnesota-bred Thunders Rocknroll, a seven-time stakes winner who is approaching $500,000 in career earnings, ran back to finish fourth in the Lady Canterbury on June 27.
Baffert’s Silent Law, awarded first-place money in the Grade 3 Chillingworth after a post-race disqualification of Tamara due to a medication violation last year, finished fourth in a Churchill Downs allowance in her first start in nearly six months and will likely move forward here.
◗ Rounding out the Friday action is the $100,000 Prairie Gold Lassie for 2-year-old fillies. Cardio Cat was a good second on debut to Valkyrie – who came back to finish fourth in the Debutante on June 28 at Churchill – and then won her next start at five furlongs. She takes a step up to 5 1/2 furlongs here. The only entrant with a win at that distance is Althesia in her debut at Churchill.
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