On a day which traditionally served as the 'after party' to the opening Friday and Saturday of Keeneland's April meet, Verity (Nyquist) claimed the honor of being the graded action opener this year, bounding home in those royal blue silks to take the GII Beaumont Stakes.
With torrential rain and catastrophic flooding across Kentucky, the racing world did not escape the bad weather unscathed, as Keeneland was forced to abandon Friday and Saturday racing–now rescheduled for Monday and Tuesday–after Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency for the entire Commonwealth ahead of historic amounts of rain and strong winds. Racing returned Sunday over a sloppy track with no turf racing as carded contests like the Listed Palisades Stakes were pulled off.
Beginning her career beneath the Twin Spires Dec. 1, Verity was beaten by a begrudging head in a maiden special, and set up camp at Turfway afterwards for her next two starts. A winner at second asking Jan. 23 with first-time Lasix, and again last out Mar. 6 when facing optional claimers, the betting public gave her a 6-1 shot to win here over the sloppy track.
Never far from 4-5 favorite SW & GSP Stunner (Girvin) as that one stepped out to set a pressured pace, Verity was still glued to that rival after an opening quarter in :22.22 and a half in :44.89 as they swung into the lane. Opening up her advantage as the longtime leader tried to mount a response, she drove clear late to win by 5 1/4 lengths. Stunner held on to second by a clear margin over North Carolina-bred SW Volleyballprincess (Mo Town) in third in a stretched out field.
“I was confident about the distance and the track, to be honest. She's a nice filly,” said winning rider Vincent Cheminaud. “I'd won twice with her and she was good every time. I was very confident. She broke better than I thought from the gate. My filly was traveling very well next to the 5 on the lead [Stunner]. She gave me a good effort.”
Of the beaten favorite's effort, rider Flavien Prat said, “[Stunner] broke well, used her speed out of the gate. She was traveling well, just got outrun.”
Watch the full replay as VERITY comes bounding home in the @MiddlegroundC Beaumont (G2) at Keeneland! pic.twitter.com/L51AC4jDWa
— Keeneland Racing (@keenelandracing) April 6, 2025
Pedigree Note:
Verity is the most accomplished for her dam as the first winner from three to start. Her juvenile half-brother Equator (Uncle Mo) is still in the wings. Moiety, a graded placed daughter of two-time Brazilian champion Be Happy (Brz) (Ghadeer {Fr}), is due to Street Sense for 2025. Moiety's half-sister Glad (Amigoni {Ire}) is the dam of Brazilian group-placed Lady Forestry (Brz) (Forestry).
The aforementioned second dam hails from a very successful line of racehorses in her home country. Her full-brothers GSW & G1SP-Brz Prosper New and GSP-Brz Sabreliner (Brz) were the most accomplished males in the family while a full-sister named Red Chris (Brz) produced Group 1 winner Faz de Conta (Brz) (Nedawi {GB}) and that one's full-sibling GSP-Brz Evert Chris, herself dam of MGSP-Brz Bolao de Ouro (Brz) (Vettori {Ire}).
Another half-sister to Be Happy is the dam of G1SP-Brz Jolly Jacob (Arg) (Public Purse) while a third full-sister named Temaki (Brz) claims GSP-Brz Rodano (Arg) (Roi Normand) to her credit.
This is the female line of G1 Brazilian One Thousand Guineas-placed Amarela (Brz).
Sunday, Keeneland
MIDDLEGROUND CAPITAL BEAUMONT S.-GII, $365,000, Keeneland, 4-6, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:27.18, sy.
1–VERITY, 118, f, 3, by Nyquist
1st Dam: Moiety (SW & GSP, $228,814), by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Be Happy (Brz), by Ghadeer (Fr)
3rd Dam: Honey Chris (Brz), by Apollon (Brz)
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Eoin G. Harty; J-Vincent Cheminaud. $248,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $368,044. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Stunner, 118, f, 3, Girvin–Spun Beauty, by Hard Spun. ($190,000 Ylg '23 FTKOCT). O-LNJ Foxwoods and Church Street Stable; B-Brereton C. Jones (FL); T-Brad H. Cox. $60,000.
3–Volleyballprincess, 118, f, 3, Mo Town–Prom Dress, by Stephen Got Even. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($14,000 Wlg '22 KEENOV; $14,000 RNA Ylg '23 KEESEP; $17,000 2yo '24 OBSMAR). O-Bran Jam Stable and David W. Clark; B-Frank Batten (NC); T-Louis C. Linder, Jr.. $30,000.
Margins: 5 1/4, 4 3/4, 13HF. Odds: 6.13, 0.95, 18.53.
Also Ran: G W's Girl, Continuity. Scratched: Eclatant.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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