Augustin Stable’s homebred Winter View went from last to first in her graded stakes debut, charging through the lane under Julien Leparoux to score the Grey Goose Bewitch Stakes (gr. IIIT) (VIDEO) by two lengths April 23 on the Keeneland turf.
A 5-year-old daughter of Thunder Gulch, Winter View was wisely brought back on just two and half weeks rest by trainer Jonathan Sheppard after taking a 12-furlong allowance race by the same margin in Lexington on April 5. Going the same distance in the Bewitch, the chestnut mare saved ground in the early stages while odds-on favorite Dress Rehearsal took the field of eight fillies and mares around in soft splits of :27.20, :53.72, 1:19.10 and 1:45.42.
Caprice pressed the pace the whole way, while Russian Rosie and Communique were always close up. Dress Rehearsal still had a narrow advantage at the eighth-pole, but Leparoux swung Winter View from the rail for her four-wide entry into the lane and swept by the leaders in upper stretch. She won going away in a final time of 2:34.11 on the firm going, significantly slower than her time of 2:31.64 in the allowance victory earlier this month.
Communique was up for second with Garrett Gomez aboard, a neck in front of third-place Dress Rehearsal.
“Julien gave her a beautiful ride,” said Sheppard. “I was a little concerned about the slow fractions, but I know that’s her style and it’s not good to alter it. We discussed that ahead of time because on paper it didn’t look like there would be much speed.”
Sent off as the third choice, Winter View paid $11.60, $5.40 and $3.20. The exacta (1-7) was worth $54.60 and trifecta (1-7-8) returned $101.60.
Bred in Kentucky by Augustin’s George Strawbridge Jr., Winter View is out of the Nureyev mare No Matter What. She made the first 11 starts of her career in France before shipping to the states. Prior to her last two scores, Winter View’s last win came in allowance company last summer at Delaware Park. She is now 4-1-3 from 20 starts with earnings of $206,379.
