Goodnight Olive notches seventh straight win with Madison Stakes
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Goodnight Olive picked up right where she left off five months ago by winning another Grade 1 race at Keeneland, the $580,000 Madison on the huge Blue Grass card Saturday.
Always in a good spot under Irad Ortiz Jr., Goodnight Olive extended her win streak to seven when holding off a hard-charging Maryquitecontrary in the 22nd running of the seven-furlong Madison. The 5-year-old dark bay mare was making her first start since clinching a 2022 divisional Eclipse Award in winning the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint here last November.
Goodnight Olive, owned by First Row Partners and Team Hanley, returned $2.74 as a heavy favorite among five fillies and mares.
After breaking sharply from post 2, Ortiz eased Goodnight Olive just off a developing duel between Society and Yuugiri as that pair sped through a half-mile in 45.93 seconds. Goodnight Olive looped past them with no urging through the turn, with only Maryquitecontrary looming a threat once they straightened away. Given three intermittent cracks of a left-handed whip from Ortiz, Goodnight Olive kept about her business, prevailing by a length when finishing in 1:23.12.
“I wanted a good pace in front of me, so I let them go,” Ortiz said “I wanted to be able to take back without fighting too much and get in the clear early. It worked out perfect. I sat right behind the speed, let her do her thing, and she did the rest.”
Goodnight Olive, by Ghostzapper, was bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings. She now has earned $1,391,950, with her March 2021 debut still her only defeat from eight career starts.
Trainer Chad Brown, who watched from New York, said he will work backward on the 2023 campaign for Goodnight Olive when seeking repeats in the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga and the BC Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita. The Grade 1 Derby City Distaff on the May 6 Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs might well be next up, he said.
“I’m very proud of her coming off a layoff against a short but solid field,” Brown said. “She made a couple of moves in the race. She asserted herself early, then backed away, then came around and ran again. It looked like she finished pretty well, and she’ll get a lot out of the race, I’m sure.”
Society was third, another 4 1/4 lengths behind Maryquitecontrary. Cocktail Moments and Yuugiri completed the order.
The $2 exacta (2-5) paid $10.70 and the $1 trifecta (2-5-3) returned $13.64.
– additional reporting by David Grening
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