Kimari rations her speed to win Madison Stakes

Kimari wanted to get to work early, but Joel Rosario was on the filly’s back, and on Saturday at Keeneland, it paid to listen to Mr. Rosario.

After pulling for her head in the early stages, Kimari settled under Rosario’s deft touch through the middle portion, leaving her with enough stamina late in the game to win the Grade 1, $300,000 Madison Stakes.

It was a belated first Grade or Group 1 success for Kimari, a fabulous filly who took tough losses in Royal Ascot stakes in 2019 and 2020 and missed the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint last fall after suffering a minor injury.

A first for Kimari, but a fourth for Rosario, who hit a stakes superfecta Saturday winning the Grade 1 Ashland on Malathaat, the Grade 2 Shakertown on Bound for Nowhere, and the Grade 2 Commonwealth aboard Flagstaff before the Madison.

Kimari typically breaks slowly but got out of the gate smoothly Saturday to take up a position closest to pacesetting Mundaye Call. Kimari, tugging on the reins with her head up, wouldn’t have minded engaging the leader through an opening quarter-mile in 22.90 seconds and a half in 45.58, but Rosario had a different plan.

“She broke really well. She kind of has a little bit of a light mouth. I wanted to stay behind the other horse for a little bit. After a little while, she was fine,” Rosario said.

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Past the three-furlong pole and approaching the five-sixteenths marker, Rosario eased his hold on the filly, allowing her to creep up to Mundaye Call without doing too much, too soon. Kimari hit the front at the three-sixteenths pole, Rosario still saving something, took about a one-length lead to the furlong grounds, and got one pop of Rosario’s crop to prevail by three-quarters of a length.

“We didn’t have a straw in our path,” said trainer Wesley Ward, who also saddled Bound for Nowhere and won the Beaumont on Friday with Twenty Carat. “I got a little worried the last part; I wasn’t sure seven furlongs is really her game.”

Indeed, Kimari had never raced beyond 6 1/2 furlongs until Saturday, but bettors certainly believed in the filly, who paid a mere $3.40 to win. Kimari was timed in 1:21.53 for seven furlongs on a fast track. Flagstaff won the seven-furlong Commonwealth in a time of 1:21.84. She earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure.

Behind her, Estilo Talentoso, a 50-1 shot, ran a huge race, getting a favorable head bob to dead heat for second with Bell’s the One. Bell’s the One finished with good energy in her first start of the year, a solid performance rallying from sixth to just miss claiming second outright. Sanenus, who worked out a decent trip from the rail, flattened late but outfinished fading pacesetter Mundaye Call for fourth, with Fair Maiden and Sconsin bringing up the rear.

Kimari, now a six-time winner from 10 starts, is by Munnings out of Cozze Up Lady, by Cozzene. She was bred by China Horse Club International, is owned by Ten Broeck Farm, and was purchased at auction for $152,000. She is gifted with speed, class, and versatility, having won twice on turf in addition to her runner-up finishes in the Queen Mary and Group 1 Commonwealth at Ascot, while now sporting a 4-for-4 record on dirt.

Ward won the 2014 Madison with Judy the Beauty, who went on to win the BC Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita, and while he loves shipping horses for European races, Kimari “has such an affinity for the dirt” that an American campaign ending with the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar might be in the works for Kimari.

Saturday, under her masterful pilot, Kimari worked out the right trip for her overdue first Grade 1.