Katie M’lady wires her own race - the Katie M’lady Handicap

Katie M’lady, a 6-year-old mare making her first start since August, went wire to wire Sunday at Hawthorne Racecourse in the $75,000 Katie M’lady Handicap.

That’s not a misprint.

Michele Boyce, the trainer of Katie M’lady and part of the group that bred and owns her, said she’d never intended to retire Katie M’lady, and that she was surprised when Hawthorne named a race for the mare.

Retirement? Not so much. Katie M’lady roared back from her long layoff looking as good as she’s ever been. Boyce earlier in the week expressed serious doubt that Katie M’lady could beat odds-on favorite Oeuvre on Sunday, but there was no doubting her superiority.

Going straight to the lead under Julio Felix, Katie M’lady doled out moderate splits of 24.20 and 48.21 – and then absolutely sprinted for home in this turf mile.

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Carrying 124 pounds, six fewer than Oeuvre, Katie M’lady ran her third quarter-mile, going around the turn, in a quick 23.75, then flew through her final quarter in 22.64. Getting the second half-mile of this one-mile contest in an audacious 46.41, Katie M’lady turned a three-length stretch call lead into a 7 1/4-length victory. Her winning time over a firm course was 1:34.60, and Katie M’lady paid $4.80.

Oeuvre, who was carrying a lot of weight, has been campaigned heavily and who is a better sprinter than route horse, held second by a nose over her stablemate Trail Ridge Road.

Katie M’lady now is 8-4-1 from 14 career starts, 7-4-3-0 on the Hawthorne grass course, and 4 for 4 in one-mile grass races. The mare is by Dominus out of Katie the Lady, by Lost Soldier, and is the third generation of this family trained by Boyce. Cherrywood Racing and Oak Rock Racing bred the mare and campaign her – a Thoroughbred so remarkable she won her own race.

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