Regal Glory proves toughest in Ladies' Turf; Got Stormy romps in Ladies' Sprint

FRANKLIN, Ky. – Winning favorites kicked off the stakes action Saturday at Kentucky Downs when Regal Glory and Got Stormy captured back-to-back Grade 3 races for fillies and mares during the richest card of the 2020 Runhappy meet.

Because of steady rain that began about an hour before the first of five straight stakes were run, the course was downgraded to yielding beginning with the first of those, the Ladies’ Turf, then to soft for the Ladies’ Sprint.

Regal Glory ($4.80) in Ladies’ Turf

Regal Glory, always in closest pursuit of pacesetting Mitchell Road, edged away in the final 100 yards of the $500,000 Ladies’ Turf when posting her first stakes victory since she dead-heated for win in the Grade 2 Lake Placid at Saratoga more than a year ago.

Granted, Regal Glory had been lightly raced by trainer Chad Brown in the interim, finishing respectably in three starts. This was a peak effort, as the 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Animal Kingdom finished the one-mile distance in 1:34.34 as the 7-5 favorite in a field of seven.

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“She handled the course really well,” said winning jockey Jose Ortiz. “She was much the best today and the only one that could screw that up was me. I put her into a winning position and she responded well.”

Mitchell Road was a neck behind the winner on the wire and another 1 1/2 lengths clear of Tapit Today, a second Brown starter.

Regal Glory, a Paul Pompa Jr. homebred, now has won six of 11 starts and $773,884. Brown’s assistant, Whit Beckman, was on hand with Brown otherwise occupied.

Got Stormy ($5.80) in Ladies’ Sprint

Class proved superior in this 6 1/2-furlong race when Got Stormy, well-handled just behind the leaders through the opening five furlongs by leading rider Tyler Gaffialone, angled outside of the pack to win by a going-away 3 1/4 lengths.

Got Stormy, a 5-year-old mare trained by Mark Casse for Gary Barber, finished in 1:15.41 as the 19-10 favorite in a full field of 12. It was her ninth win from 24 starts and pushed her career bankroll just past $1.9 million.

“We love this mare,” said Casse, who was on hand.

Got Stormy has run periodically versus males, including in a benchmark triumph in the Grade 1 Fourstardave over very firm turf at Saratoga in August 2019, and is likely to run versus males again in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint when cutting back further to 5 1/2 furlongs on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Casse has maintained the mare prefers much firmer turf to what she raced over Saturday, but stipulated that the shorter distance and her edge in class appeared to mitigate that factor.

“Tyler said she was so sharp he probably could’ve made the lead if he’d wanted,” said Casse.

Winning Envelope was along to finish second, a half-length before Into Mystic. Cariba, the 5-2 second choice, was never a threat when finishing 11th.