Ruby Nell to try Grade 1 foes again in Jenny Wiley

The four-time stakes winner Ruby Nell is booked to have her first start in a Grade 1 since August in the $600,000 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland on April 13 after winning for the first time this year in Sunday’s Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes at Santa Anita.

The Jenny Wiley Stakes, run at 1 1/16 miles on turf, is annually one of the toughest races of the spring for older fillies and mares on grass.

“We’ll try something better,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “She’s still progressing.”

Ruby Nell, who races for Spendthrift Farm, led throughout the Buena Vista Stakes at a mile, winning by three-quarters of a length as the 4-5 favorite.

A winner of 6 of 12 starts, Ruby Nell has earned $491,520. The Buena Vista is her most prestigious win. Last August, Ruby Nell was fourth in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks in her stakes debut, leading to the final furlong.

In her only other start outside of California, Ruby Nell was third by 1 3/4 lengths behind the multiple stakes winner Didia in the Grade 2 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational at 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 27.

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