(from Churchill Downs report)
Good Mood shot through an opening near the hedge and finished courageously in the final eighth of a mile to score a 1 3/4-length victory in Saturday’s $228,600 Regret Stakes (gr. IIIT) (VIDEO) for 3-year-old fillies on the turf at Churchill Downs.
The race was the last of six stakes events on “Stephen Foster Super Saturday” --which saw total stakes purses of $1.8 million. The spectacular day of racing attracted 11,424 fans to Churchill Downs.
Good Mood, an Irish-bred daughter of Danehill Dancer, covered 1 1/8 miles over “firm” turf in the Regret and paid $11, $5.40, and $3.80.
You Go West Girl, who rallied wide in the stretch under Jamie Theriot, just got up for the runner-up spot by a neck and paid $8.40 and $6.20.
Dashes N Dots, who set the pace and led into deep stretch under Garrett Gomez, settled for third and paid $4.80.
High Heels, the 5-2 favorite, was close early but faded to finish seventh in her first race on turf.
The winner was coming off a third-place finish in the one-mile Edgewood Stakes on Kentucky Oaks Day when she encountered some traffic problems in that race. She started her racing career in France. Her victory in the Regret was her first win in four starts since her arrival in the United States last fall. Owned by the Flying Zee Stable of Carl Lizza, Good Mood is trained by Patrick Biancone and improved her career record to 2-2-1 in seven races with earnings of $180,771.
“We just had to find a hole to come through and fortunately we did,” said Biancone. “She has a very big kick. She is a nice filly, and she is acclimatizing very well. We have given her plenty of time, and she is learning and could be a really good filly.”
Dashes N Dots flashed to the front at the break, establishing a clear advantage while leading the field through comfortable fractions of :23.43 for the first quarter, :47.02 for the half-mile, and 1:10.96 for six furlongs.
The leader was tracked in the early going by Sans Reward and the favored High Heels, while You Go West Girl and Good Mood settled behind the leaders in fifth and sixth, respectively.
Dashes N Dots spurted clear in upper stretch, while You Go West Girl swung to the outside. Good Mood was forced to check under Prado, who spotted a hole to the inside and guided his filly through that opening.
Once clear, Good Mood fired up the hedge, collared Dashes N Dots and drew clear, while You Go West Girl rallied on the outside and caught the pacesetter at the finish to grab the runner-up spot.
Communique rallied from last to finish fourth and was followed across the finish line by Dawn After Dawn, Swingit, High Heels, Perfectforthepart, Luna Dorada, and Sans Reward.
The field for the Regret was reduced to 10 fillies with the late scratch of Dreaming of Anna, last year’s winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI) and America’s champion 2-year-old filly.
(Chart, Equibase)
