Malathaat rolls in Spinster, sets up BC Distaff showdown with Nest

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Malathaat kept herself on course for an eagerly awaited clash with her younger stablemate, Nest, when romping to a 5 1/4-length victory Sunday in the Grade 1, $600,000 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland.

As if she needed any extra help as the 2-5 favorite in a field of five fillies and mares, a perfect scenario unfolded ahead of Malathaat in the 67th Spinster. Letruska struggled to make the early lead when Played Hard out-broke her, and jockey John Velazquez, the rider of Malathaat, took full advantage when swinging his mount out for a final quarter-mile that she dominated.

“It worked out pretty well with the other horses entertaining each other up front,” said Todd Pletcher, who trains Malathaat for Shadwell Stable.

Malathaat returned $2.88 after finishing 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.05 over a fast track. She earned the automatic Win and You’re In berth toward the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, which will be run here Nov. 5 at 1 1/8 miles.

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Army Wife, reserved early off a pace contested not only by Letruska and Played Hard, but also by 48-1 shot Princess of Cairo, rallied past the tired ones when finishing second, another 3 1/4 lengths before Played Hard. Letruska, the Spinster winner and Eclipse champion in the filly-mare dirt division in 2021, was virtually eased in the final 100 yards as the 3-1 second choice when another 8 1/4 lengths behind Played Hard in fourth, with Princess of Cairo last.

The easy score for Malathaat, a 4-year-old Curlin filly, means she and Nest most likely will be the top two choices in the Distaff. Some four hours earlier, Nest, the runaway leader of the 3-year-old filly division, was the easiest of winners at odds of 1-20 in the Grade 2 Beldame at Belmont at the Big A.

“I love both of them,” Pletcher said. “We’re so blessed to have them. They both seem to like Keeneland, so we’re excited about it.”

The Spinster capped another monster weekend for Pletcher. Prior to the Spinster and Beldame on Sunday, the Hall of Fame trainer also won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity with Forte and the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile with Annapolis here Saturday.

Malathaat, owned by Shadwell Stable, is now 3 for 3 at Keeneland, all in two-turn races on the main track. She won the Grade 1 Ashland at the 2021 spring meet and the Grade 3 Doubledogdare at the 2022 spring meet, both of them going 1 1/16 miles.

For Malathaat, the Kentucky Oaks winner and 3-year-old filly champion of 2021, this was her ninth win, and fifth in a Grade 1, in a 13-race career. She was bred by Stonestreet Farm.

This was the fifth Spinster win for Pletcher, extending his own record, following Panty Raid (2007), In Lingerie (2012), Got Lucky (2015), and Valiance (2020). Velazquez’s lone prior Spinster win came 10 years ago aboard In Lingerie.

The $2 exacta (1-2) paid $23.18 and the $1 trifecta (1-2-4) returned $22.10.

*** Keeneland is dark Monday and Tuesday ahead of the first five-day week of the 17-day meet starting with an eight-race Wednesday card. The final Grade 1 race of the meet, the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup for 3-year-old turf fillies, is set for Saturday.

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