The ultra-consistent Blue Prize broke through at the Grade I level Sunday, capturing the GI Juddmonte Spinster S., a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff, despite drifting out dramatically in midstretch. Jockey Joe Bravo corrected the mare in the final furlong and she held on to score by just less than a length over rail-skimming Champagne Problems.
Away to an alert beginning from the far outside stall, Blue Prize was allowed to settle just off the pace while racing in the four path behind a half-mile in :47.62. She was given her cue on the far turn, moved willingly with a sweeping outside bid and gained control entering the stretch. Just as it appeared that Blue Prize was headed toward an easy win, she veered outwardly, allowing Champagne Problems and Pacific Wind to nearly reach even terms to her inside, but Bravo kept after her and the Argentinian import staved off those rivals and hit the wire in front.
“She got lonely,” Bravo said of the drifting incident. “She made the race exciting, didn't she? She's got a lot of talent. Ignacio gave me a heads up in the paddock. He said, 'Listen, make sure to keep her attention at all times, keep her focused,' and now we see why, right? We weren't expecting that. After she went out there, I left her alone. She has a beautiful stride–I thought, she's better than everybody in here.”
Blue Prize arrived to Ignacio Correas's barn ahead of the 2017 season and notched four runner-up finishes and a third in last year's Spinster before finally claiming her first graded stakes success in the GII Falls City H. at Churchill in November. She captured Aqueduct's Top Flight Invitational in April and the GII Fleur de Lis H. beneath the Twin Spires in June and was last seen earning a hard-fought nose victory over Champagne Problems in the GIII Locust Grove S. in Louisville Sept. 15.
Sunday's win also marked Correas's first Grade I victory in North America.
“It means a lot,” Correas said. “It has been a tough road, for me and my family, but we all believed in ourselves and thank this great country that give us opportunities to thrive, if you work hard and you try. It's hard to put into words.”
The winner's dam Blues for Sale was a three time group stakes winner.
Sunday, Keeneland
JUDDMONTE SPINSTER S.-GI, $500,000, Keeneland, 10-7, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:50.02, ft.
1–BLUE PRIZE (ARG), 124, m, 5, by Pure Prize
1st Dam: Blues for Sale (Arg) (MGSW-Arg), by Not For Sale (Arg)
2nd Dam: Key Cure, by Cure the Blues
3rd Dam: Dancer's Key, by Key to the Mint
O-Merriebelle Stable LLC; B-Bioart S.A. (ARG); T-Ignacio
Correas, IV; J-Joe Bravo. $300,000. Lifetime Record: 16-7-7-1,
$964,753. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”purchased-privately-by-bluegrass-for-merriebelle”][bullet ad=”eisaman-equine-maroon”]2–Champagne Problems, 124, f, 4, by Ghostzapper
1st Dam: Coral Sun, by A.P. Indy
2nd Dam: Pleasant Dixie, by Dixieland Band
3rd Dam: Pleasant Jolie, by Pleasant Colony
($270,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-Six Column Stables, LLC, R. Bloch,
J. Seiler, F. Merritt & D. Hall; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred
Holdings LLC (KY); T-Ian R. Wilkes. $100,000.[bullet ad=”hill-n-dale-hip-172-ftknov”][bullet ad=”stonestreet-bredraised”][bullet ad=”elmtree-salesgrad”]3–Pacific Wind, 124, f, 4, by Curlin
1st Dam: Shag, by Dixieland Band
2nd Dam: Ismelda, by Wavering Monarch
3rd Dam: Scathing, by Vitriolic
($200,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-Sharon Alesia, Ciaglia Racing LLC,
Peter M. Brant & Dominic Savides; B-Sarah S. Farish (KY);
T-Chad C. Brown. $50,000.[bullet ad=”lanes-end-sales-grad”][bullet ad=”taylor-made-keenov-hip-1417t”]Margins: 3/4, 1HF, 3 1/4. Odds: 4.50, 8.90, 7.80.
Also Ran: Fuhriously Kissed, Chocolate Martini, Talk Veuve to Me, Eskimo Kisses, Skeptic, Southernperfection, Tiger Moth, Sassy Sienna. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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