Princess Theorem proves she's a runner in Van Clief

The 3-year-old filly Princess Theorem was eligible for a first-level allowance race, was facing older rivals for the first time, and had finished third and fifth in her two previous turf starts, yet she won the $100,000 Van Clief Stakes on Monday at Colonial Downs by nearly two lengths.

Joe Rocco gave Princess Theorem a clean outside-stalking trip and trainer Brendan Walsh had the filly sharp for her first start since March 6. Walsh also gets high marks for spotting his horse in the right place to notch a first stakes win, shipping the filly from Keeneland to Colonial though other options closer to home surely were available.

The Van Clief, contested over 1 1/16 miles on turf, was open to older fillies and mares bred in Virginia, by Virginia-registered sires, or Virginia-certified, Princess Theorem falling into the third category. By Nyquist out of Princess Haya, by Street Cry, Princess Theorem was sold at a 2019 yearling auction for just $10,000. She won a Churchill Downs dirt-route maiden race well enough while making her second start as a 2-year-old but following a trio of fifth-place finishes at Churchill and Fair Grounds, Princess Theorem got time off, coming back fresh to easily run the best race of her life. She was timed in 1:43.02 and paid $17.20 to win.

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No Mo Lady finished second, longshot Fionnbharr was third, and even-money favorite Tasting the Stars was a luckless fourth. Tasting the Stars traveled strongly behind the lead back past the three-furlong marker but twice was shut off in upper stretch as her jockey searched in vain for daylight.