Mary's Follies took over at the eighth-pole and went on to win the $209,500 Mrs. Revere (gr. IIT) (VIDEO) in stakes record time Nov. 14 at Churchill Downs, remaining perfect in two starts on turf.
It was the second graded stakes victory for the daughter of More Than Ready , who was making her first start at Churchill. Back in June, the bay filly captured the Boiling Springs Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Monmouth Park to snare her first stakes win in her turf debut. Rick Dutrow Jr. trains the winner for Paul Pompa Jr., who purchased the filly privately after that first stakes triumph.
Mary’s Follies received a ground-saving trip under Kent Desormeaux, stalking the pace along the inside as War Kill led the way in a full field of 14 sophomore fillies. War Kill, under Jon Court, posted moderate splits of :24.23, :48.57, and 1:12.50 with Romacaca pressing from the outside. All the while, Mary’s Follies raced comfortably in stalking position, along with Miss Keller and Keertana.
A tightly-bunched group of fillies rounded the far turn, but War Kill and Romacaca were still in front at the quarter-pole. With E.T. Baird in the irons, Romacaca took over when they hit the straightaway, but Mary’s Follies, who was swung three-wide by Desormeaux for her stretch run, collared the new leader with a furlong to go and sprinted away to a 1 1/2-length win.
The final time for 1 1/16 miles on a firm turf course was 1:41.73, shaving more than a second off the stakes mark of 1:42.86 set by Snow Dance in 2001. Keertana rallied to get second, one length in front of Romacaca. Post time favorite Hot Cha Cha was fourth.
“When I was in the paddock before the race I was told that I had a loaded gun underneath me," Desormeaux said. "All I had to do was aim and pull the trigger. She (Mary’s Follies) put me into a great position. She broke very smart and put us into a very energetic spot, and that set us up very well for the rest of the trip.
"She was really full of run when crossing under the wire today. She was really breathing fire today. This one really seems to have found herself on the turf. We beat a very good bunch of proven horses. She is just a very nice filly."
Mary’s Follies entered the contest off a disappointing sixth-place finish in the Oct. 3 Fitz Dixon Cotillion (gr. II) on the Philadelphia Park main track. Prior to that, she was runner-up in the grade III Lake George, also a dirt race at Saratoga.
Overall, Mary’s Follies has won four of eight starts in 2009. The $118,201 winner’s share of the Mrs. Revere pushed her career earnings to $317,889.
Originally a $40,000 yearling purchase, Mary’s Follies was bred in Kentucky by Mr. and Mrs. David Randal and is out of the Miswaki mare Catch the Queen.
The winner paid $20.80, $11.40, and $8.40. The exacta (5-11) was $261.80, and the trifecta (5-11-9) was a handsome $4,405.80.
