Judy the Beauty in search of first Grade 1 win in Madison Stakes
[bc_video_id:320975:]Soon after Judy the Beauty crossed the wire second in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, a half-length behind Groupie Doll, owner-trainer Wesley Ward started planning to complete unfinished business. His goal for her was a Grade 1 victory, something that had just eluded her, with second-place finishes in Grade 1 starts Nos. 2, 3, and 4.
On Saturday in the Grade 1, $300,000 Madison at Keeneland on the Blue Grass undercard, the planning is over. All there is left is the running, and Ward is confident in his mare’s chances against a group that includes such accomplished runners as Apropos, Heir Kitty, Wildcat Lily, Better Lucky, and Byrama.
As good as those mares are, not one could be compared to champion Groupie Doll. And on this Polytrack surface at Keeneland last fall, it was Judy the Beauty who beat Groupie Doll in the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes, one of three wins Judy the Beauty has in as many races at Keeneland.
“This is her track,” Ward said. “They’re playing in her backyard court.”
Judy the Beauty, favored at 8-5, also has been at Keeneland for about a month after winning the Grade 3 Las Flores by 4 3/4 lengths March 9 at Santa Anita in her first start of the year.
A 5-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper, she seemingly holds a fitness edge over 3-1 second choice Better Lucky, last year’s Grade 1 First Lady winner, who is kicking off her year in the Madison.
John Velazquez, 2 for 2 riding Judy the Beauty, is aboard.
Better Lucky could pose a risk to Judy the Beauty if she is at full strength off the bench and handles Polytrack. She has raced exclusively on turf and dirt and campaigned primarily as a miler.
In addition to winning the First Lady Stakes last year, she won the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes as a 3-year-old in 2012.
The Madison, at seven furlongs, marks her first sprint since she won a 6 1/2-furlong allowance race in the mud at Belmont Park in May 2012.
The value on the track morning line is 20-1 Cozze Up Lady, although such rich odds seem unlikely. One only needs to watch the replay of her winning the Mardi Gras Stakes at Fair Grounds on March 4 to rate her as a contender.
Off poorly in that 5 1/2-furlong race, which was transferred from turf to a sloppy main track, she looked hopelessly beaten while still trailing by more than 8 lengths with a furlong remaining, only to fly home and catch Saturday Nthe Park by a nose.
The conditions of the Madison suit her, as she won an allowance in her one race over the Keeneland track last spring, and in her final start of 2013, she won the Grade 3 Chicago Handicap on June 29 over Arlington’s Polytrack at seven furlongs.
Earlier this week, trainer Bret Calhoun said Cozze Up Lady had never been in better physical condition.