Rebounding jockey Machado guides Chop Chop to Dowager victory

A challenging week at Keeneland for jockey Luan Machado came to a satisfying conclusion when he piloted Chop Chop to a narrow victory Sunday in the Grade 3, $296,738 Dowager Stakes.

Machado worked out a perfect pressing trip for Chop Chop, who held off a determined rail bid from Forever After All to win the Dowager, a 1 1/2-mile grass race for older fillies and mares, by a nose.

Forever After All, an 18-1 shot, finished 2 1/2 lengths ahead of third-place Anatolian, who was 21-1. Mrs. Astor, a 52-1 chance, finished fourth, with 13-10 favorite Neecie Marie fifth. With two scratches, Neecie Marie moved in from post 12, her official draw, to post 10, but she still got a lousy Dowager journey. Caught wide the first two turns, Neecie Marie found herself stuck behind horses going nowhere at the half-mile pole and had to try for a five- to six-wide run on the last of three turns.

By the time Neecie Marie leveled off in the homestretch, Chop Chop, the 7-2 third choice, was gone. Tracking second-choice Surprisingly’s splits of 24.72, 49.94, and 1:15.88 over a firm, fast-playing grass course, Chop Chop and Machado collared the pacesetter in upper stretch, briefly went clear, and had enough left to repel Forever After All’s prolonged foray up the fence.

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Chop Chop made her 1 1/2-mile grass debut this past April at Keeneland and won the Bewitch Stakes, sweeping Keeneland’s 2024 stakes in this division. Chop Chop was timed in 2:29 and paid $9.62.

Machado rarely rides for winning trainer Brad Cox and Sunday rode Chop Chop for the first time since a Turfway Park stakes win in February. In the last of eight races Wednesday, Machado was riding Ultimate Strike to an apparent maiden-claiming victory when he mistook the sixteenth pole, where 1 1/16-mile races at Keeneland end, for the actual finish line of a 1 1/8-mile race. Machado stopped riding and eased his mount, who was passed just before the race ended. An official ruling Friday gave Machado a three-day suspension and $2,500 fine.

On Saturday, Machado rode longshot Brunacini to victory in the Perryville Stakes.

Cox trains Chop Chop for Selective LLC. A six-time winner from 20 starts, Chop Chop is by City of Light out of Grand Sofia, by Giant’s Causeway, and she’s entered in next month’s Fasig-Tipton November Mixed Sale.

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