Regal Realm crowned in Ladies Turf

Regal Realm ruled the Grade 3, $1 million Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf on Saturday, making all the pace and driving through the lane for a handy victory in the one-turn-mile race for fillies and mares.

Regal Realm ($14.16), with Florent Geroux in the irons, was away well from the inside post and held a comfortable 1 1/2-length lead throughout the first three-quarters. There are no fractional or final times on the official Equibase chart for the race, nor were any posted on the track video feed during the running of the race on turf rated firm.

With more in the tank, Regal Realm opened up a three-length advantage in upper stretch, and, though that margin was cut into somewhat, easily held sway to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

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“She broke super fast and made the lead very easily," Geroux said. "We just wanted to see how she broke. We thought she might be forward because of a lack of speed in the race. When she jumped very well, I just took control of the race. She did it very easily and she really liked the track. She had more and felt great.”

Trainer Jonathan Thomas was thrilled to get a graded stakes win with Regal Realm, a 4-year-old Animal Kingdom filly who races as a homebred for George Strawbridge's Augustin Stable. The filly has now won four 4 of 5 starts this year. In her first foray into stakes company, she won the Lady Canterbury Stakes in June, then was third in the De La Rose Stakes last month at Saratoga.

“She’s been training great," Thomas said. "We were looking forward to getting her here. I thought Flo did a great job of getting her to the lead comfortably. She looked super with her body language. Took to the track very well. We’re just thrilled.

Grade 3 winner Sparkle Blue, who had been sixth, with 4 1/2 lengths to make up at the quarter pole, rallied to be second by a neck in a blanket finish for the other placings. White Frost was third by a head over Haughty, who held fourth by three-quarters of a length over Querobin Dourada. Henrietta Topham was sixth, and favored new Year's Eve trailed the field of seven throughout.

“She ran great," Alice Clapham, assistant to trainer Graham Motion, said of Sparkle Blue. "We weren’t sure about backing her up to the mile, but she ran really well. Just maybe ran out of ground.”

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