Kitten's Point proves best in Dowager

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kitten’s Point was the best 1 1/2-mile turf mare to race at Keeneland in the spring, illustrated by a victory April 24 in the Grade 3 Bewitch, and returning Sunday to Keeneland in $125,000, Grade 3 Dowager, she proved her local superiority hasn’t changed with the seasons.

Just as in the Bewitch, she was victorious, this time pulling away to score by 1 3/4 lengths, a larger margin than her half-length Bewitch victory in the spring.

Well placed under Edgar Prado, Kitten’s Point settled in midpack in the Dowager, racing in sixth early while saving ground as Naples Gold and Honey Lake raced as a team, setting splits of 49.81 seconds, 1:14.82, and 1:39.93 over the firm going.

The only question was whether Kitten’s Point would eventually secure running room, but under astute handling from Prado, he angled her toward the inside for the stretch, and she steadily pulled away from Ceisteach, who got first run coming into the lane after stalking the pace in third.

“She gave me everything she had in the stretch,” Prado said. “She’s a very classy filly. She knows where the wire is.”

Although no match for the winner, Ceisteach held second, a half-length in front of third-place Modernstone, with Trophee another couple lengths back in fourth.

A 5-year-old daughter of Kitten’s Joy, Kitten’s Point raced 1 1/2 miles in 2:30.37, just off her Bewitch time from the spring, when she covered the same distance in 2:30.28. She paid $5.

Her victory gave Prado, trainer Graham Motion, and owner-breeder George Strawbridge’s Augustin Stable their second graded stakes victory in three days at Keeneland, following Holiday Star’s victory Thursday in the Grade 3 Sycamore. That race also came at 1 1/2 miles on turf.

With Motion in Canada on Sunday, Jane Buchanan, racing manager for the stable, spoke on Motion’s behalf in the post-race interview.

“She’s such a lovely filly to train, and I’m sure Edgar agrees she’s such a lovely filly to ride,” she said.

Keeneland attendance on a brisk but beautiful fall afternoon was 14,104.