La Lune looks to give trainer first U.S. graded victory in Dowager Stakes
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ed Vaughan is fairly new to the North American continent, so he might not be aware that it was Woody Stephens who is said to have uttered the quip, “If size meant anything, a cow could outrun a rabbit.”
Vaughan, in his first year of training in the United States after years of success in the United Kingdom, will be represented Sunday at Keeneland in the Grade 3 Dowager Stakes by a 5-year-old mare named La Lune, who, he said, “is a tiny little thing, no more than 15-2 hands, I wouldn’t think.”
“Hopefully, that won’t really matter as far as this next race is concerned,” he said. “She walks and moves and runs like a big horse.”
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Vaughan is on something of a roll, and with La Lune having performed as well as she did in her stateside debut – she was a fast-closing second in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon on Sept. 12, earning a 93 Beyer Speed Figure – the 44-year-old trainer could be in line for his first graded stakes win in America. It was only Monday evening that Vaughan notched his first American stakes victory when Alnaseem captured the $75,000 HBPA at Presque Isle Downs.
La Lune, with Adam Beschizza riding, is one of 10 fillies and mares in a well-matched 30th running of the $150,000 Dowager, the seventh of nine Sunday races. The 1 1/2-mile turf race is the middle leg in the $3-minimum Keeneland Turf Pick 3, which comprises races 5-7-9.
La Lune, a Group 3 winner in England in May, figures to contend for favoritism with Luck Money (post 5, Joel Rosario) and Micheline (post 6, Florent Geroux). Other considerations include I Hear You (post 2, Ricardo Santana Jr.), Summer in Saratoga (post 3, Corey Lanerie), and Key Biscayne (post 9, Tyler Gaffalione).
Sunday is Heroes Day at Keeneland, with free admission and special activities geared toward military members and first responders and their families. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern, with the Dowager set for 4:12.
After Sunday, Keeneland goes dark for two days before the final four-day stretch of the 17-day fall meet begins Wednesday with an eight-race card. Churchill Downs opens its fall meet next Sunday, Oct. 31.
BC Juvenile Fillies workers
Several contenders for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 5 at Del Mar were out for serious work in five-furlong drills Friday at Kentucky tracks.
Before dawn at Churchill, Hidden Connection, winner of the Pocahontas on Sept. 18, went solo in 59.80 seconds, while Juju’s Map went in 1:01.80 in company. Here at Keeneland, Tarabi also went five furlongs in company, finishing in 1:00.20.
Hidden Connection and Juju’s Map are regarded as two of the chief threats to Echo Zulu in a prospective field of about nine for the Juvenile Fillies. Tarabi, trained by Cherie DeVaux, finished second to Echo Zulu in her latest race, the Spinaway on Sept. 4 at Saratoga. All three fillies are scheduled to work once more before being flown to California on Nov. 1.
Bell’s the One a no-go
Bell’s the One will not run in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint and will go instead in the Dream Supreme on Nov. 13 at Churchill, trainer Neil Pessin said several hours after the 5-year-old mare breezed a half-mile in 47.80 seconds in company Friday at Churchill.
The defection of Bell’s the One, a last-out winner of the Thoroughbred Club of America at Keeneland, leaves just five or six prospective rivals for heavily favored Gamine in the Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 6.
◗ Dennis’ Moment earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure in posting his first victory in more than two years Thursday in a seven-furlong allowance. The 4-year-old colt had struggled mightily since finishing last as the odds-on favorite following a terrible start in the 2019 BC Juvenile at Santa Anita, “so it was great to see him finally get back to the winner’s circle,” trainer Dale Romans said.