Navratilova steps up to Grade 1 in Jenny Wiley
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Like mother, like daughter? Navratilova is set to step up to the line for the Grade 1, $500,000 Jenny Wiley Stakes for fillies and mares later today on the Keeneland turf, chasing a family legacy.
Navratilova, by Medaglia d'Oro, is out of the Smart Strike mare Centre Court, who also raced in the colors of G. Watts Humphrey for trainer Rusty Arnold. Centre Court was a six-time graded stakes winner, including the 2013 edition of the Jenny Wiley.
“They are not that similar,” Arnold said of the two. “Centre Court was bigger and stronger, but the best distance for both of them is a mile to a mile and a sixteenth.”
The Jenny Wiley is one of four turf races on today's 11-race card, along with the $200,000 Giant's Causeway Stakes for female turf sprinters. The Wiley goes as Race 10, the Giant's Causeway as Race 8. After overnight rain in Lexington, all four scheduled races were still on the turf as of 10 a.m., and the course was listed as good. Partly cloudy weather and highs in the low 60s will keep it from drying out much more.
Navratilova will be making her first start at the Grade 1 level. She concluded her 3-year-old campaign by winning the Grade 3 Valley View Stakes, contested on yielding turf, during Keeneland's fall meeting. She opened this season by finishing third in the Grade 3 Honey Fox Stakes on March 5 at Gulfstream, breaking from post 11 and pressing the pace set by winning favorite In Italian.
“She had a good winter, and then in the Honey Fox, she had a tough post,” Arnold said. “We tried to chase a Chad Brown horse, and that probably cost her second.”
Navratilova indicated that she is sharp for her return engagement at Keeneland, working a half-mile on the Keeneland turf that was the fastest of seven on a good course April 10. She is drawn in post 5 of 6 under Colby Hernandez, who rode her to win the Valley View.
The morning-line favorites for the Jenny Wiley are the Brown-trained duo of Shantisara at 6-5, and Regal Glory at 7-5.
Campanelle is favored at 5-2 on the morning line in an overflow field for the Giant's Causeway. Social Chatter and Ambassador Luna are early scratches from the main body of the field, which would allow also-eligible Phantom Vision to draw in.
View full race preview here.