Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Bewitch Stakes caps meeting
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The curtain comes down Friday on another eventful Keeneland meet, but not before at least one more race of significance is run amid the splendor of the Bluegrass.
Daddys Lil Darling, who emerged as one of the top filly mare turf runners in North America by winning the Grade 1 American Oaks in late December, will make her second start as a 4-year-old when she stretches out to 1 1/2 miles in the closing-day feature, the Grade 3, $150,000 Bewitch Stakes.
With Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith in from California to ride, Daddys Lil Darling will break from post 5. She will be heavily favored against six other fillies and mares in this 57th running of the Bewitch – although trainer Kenny McPeek is taking nothing for granted.
“She needs to prove herself all over again,” McPeek said. “She’s up against older fillies now, and it’s a brand new season.”
Daddys Lil Darling has benefit of a race under her belt on the year, having finished a close fourth in an inordinately strong renewal of the Grade 2 Hillsborough on the March 10 Tampa Bay Derby undercard. That 1 1/8-mile race was her first since she won the 1 1/4-mile American Oaks.
“She’ll like this added distance,” McPeek said. “We shortened her back up at Tampa, and she found some trouble, which tends to happen to her going shorter.”
McPeek said the Grade 2 New York at Belmont Park and the Grade 1 Beverly D. at Arlington Park are logical goals for Daddys Lil Darling, a bay Scat Daddy filly bred and owned by the Normandy Farm of Nancy Polk. But of more immediate concern is how she handles the three turns of the Bewitch.
“I’m more worried about the now than what’s ahead,” McPeek said. “This will be a very good test for her. I think 10 furlongs hits her in the head, so it’ll be interesting to see how she does going even longer.”
The American Oaks at Santa Anita was the ninth start of 2017 for Daddys Lil Darling and gave her a record of 2 wins, 3 seconds, and 1 third, for earnings of $777,040. The filly has knocked heads with some of the best of her class, both on turf and dirt, and owns runner-up finishes in the Ashland, Kentucky Oaks, and Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, all Grade 1 events.
If Daddys Lil Darling is to stub her toe Friday, her most likely conquerors would be Daring Duchess (post 6, Jose Ortiz) or Mom’s On Strike (post 2, Adam Beschizza).
Daring Duchess, the 2017 Bewitch runner-up behind Quiet Business, established herself as one of the top performers in this division in Florida over the winter with solid efforts in three straight Gulfstream Park races, all for trainer Mike Maker.
Mom’s On Strike came to hand over the winter at Fair Grounds for trainer Joe Sharp, extending a win streak to four races prior to having it snapped as an oddson favorite last month in the New Orleans Ladies.
Sully’s Dream (post 7, Robby Albarado), who won the New Orleans Ladies at 9-1, also is in the Bewitch lineup, which is rounded out by Ickymasho (post 1, Florent Geroux), Shezaprado (post 3, Gabriel Saez), and Coco Channel (post 4, Julien Leparoux).
The Bewitch, named for the Hall of Fame filly campaigned by Calumet Farm from 194750, helps end the 16-day spring meet as the ninth of 10 races. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the feature set for 5:30. Two allowances (races 7 and 8) directly precede the Bewitch.
The closing-day forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 68. Live action on this circuit moves Saturday evening to Churchill Downs.