Juddmonte wins Churchill stakes the easy way and the hard way
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The Juddmonte homebred 3-year-old filly Consequent was supposed to win the Seneca Overnight Stakes this past Saturday night at Churchill Downs, and she did so, easily.
The Juddmonte homebred 3-year-old filly Conceit was not supposed to win the Dogwood Stakes this past Saturday night at Churchill Downs, and she did so with great difficulty.
“She puts the head down, pins the ears back, and really produced a super finish Saturday. It took every ounce of effort to get to the finish line,” said Garrett O’Rourke, manager of Juddmonte Farm in Kentucky.
Conceit, a 5-1 shot trained by Brad Cox, got home by a head over Explora, who went off a couple ticks lower than 2-5 in the Grade 3, $299,000 Dogwood after winning the Grade 1 Test last month at Saratoga by five lengths.
Conceit, bred at Juddmonte's Kentucky farm, is by Not This Time out of Pachiko, by Tapit, and until earlier this summer, no one could have imagined her taking down a talent like Explora.
“Conceit was a pretty filly but slightly made and not very strong,” O’Rourke said. “We didn’t have a super high regard for her when she started out. Brad thought she’d be a [synthetic] or turf sprint type filly.”
Conceit won one of four as a 2-year-old, though, tellingly, her lone victory came in her only dirt start, a Horseshoe Indiana route carded for turf but rained onto a sloppy main track. Cox entered Conceit on turf for her 2026 debut June 26, but that race, too, got rained off. Conceit won by more than 10, her 94 Beyer Speed Figure a career best by 22 points. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. came back, O’Rourke said, and told Cox that Conceit was a dirt horse.
Entered for the first time in a dirt race, Conceit won the Audubon Oaks on Aug. 9 at Ellis Park by a measured three-quarters of a length. She got a good setup in the seven-furlong Dogwood. Movie Night softened up Explora, but Conceit made the most of it, closing two lengths on Explora through the final furlong.
Plans for Conceit won’t be set until Cox has more time to see how she responds to what looked like a taxing race. If Conceit’s ready for more, she could start Oct. 17 at Keeneland in the Raven Run, and, all being well, go on to the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita in late December. If Conceit needs time, she’ll get time, and O’Rourke could even see Conceit resting until next season.
Consequent now is 4 for 4 after waltzing home by almost five lengths in the Seneca Overnight. Trained by Bob Baffert, who took a tough loss with Explora, Consequent won the Grade 2 Starlet last December but was diagnosed with bone chips in an ankle, O’Rourke said, and needed several months after having surgery.
“Bob had all the patience with her,” said O’Rourke. “Once you miss those classic races, there’s no rush.”
Consequent returned to action July 24 and defeated older allowance horses at Ellis Park. She had far too much for the quartet of 3-year-olds who opposed her this past Saturday. Options, though, are scant for Consequent: Either take on older stakes foes or go to the Grade 2 Mother Goose on Nov. 7 at Belmont.
Neither horse, in any case, runs in the Breeders’ Cup this year, and O’Rourke said Juddmonte has only one American-based Breeders’ Cup hope, Segesta, who races next month in the First Lady at Keeneland. Blue Bolt, one of Europe’s top milers, could ship from England for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, while Group 3-winning, Ireland-based Purview has an outside chance of punching his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Turf with a strong showing Oct. 3 at Woodbine in the Canadian International.
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