Bel Air Beauty makes her mark in Alcibiades win on opening day at Keeneland.
In her first start, Bel Air Beauty was boxed in at the quarter pole and came flying to finish second. In her second, she angled out, had clear sailing, and won the $400,000 Darley Alcibiades (gr. II) to highlight opening day of Keeneland's Fall 2006 meeting.The 47-1 longshot Bel Air Beauty just made her debut Sept. 9 at Turfway Park. Under Corey Lanerie, she closed ground to get in contention but then encountered trouble and just missed by a head.At Keeneland Friday, Fernando Jara had her in fourth by the time the field had run six furlongs, and she collared Southern California shipper Untouched Talent, the 5-2 favorite, and went by to become a graded stakes winner in just two starts. She won by three-quarters of a length.The daughter of Smart Strike is owned by Bruce Lunsford and trained by Frankie Brothers. Bred in Kentucky by Jaime Carrion Trustee, she was purchased as a yearling not far from where she won, in the Keeneland sale pavilion. Lunsford gave $210,000 for her at the 2005 Keeneland September sale from Carrion's longtime agent, Bob Courtney."She has done everything right from day one," Brothers said. "While it may have looked like we were stepping out of the box a little, I had a lot of confidence in her and thought we could take a shot here." Brothers said he hopes to take her to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) next month. Lunsford credited Jara for a brilliant ride. "I think he is one of the bright young talents in the game," Lunsford said. Bel Air Beauty earned $248,000 for Friday's win.Appealing Zophie made the lead out of the gate and was joined by Untouched Talent, with Cotton Blossom and X Star tracking behind. They ran the quarter in :23.95 and the half in :48.81.Untouched Talent hit the front as the field turned for home, but Jara angled Bel Air Beauty out and she closed quickly to run by the leader.Bel Air Beauty returned a hefty $96.80, $33.80, and $18.80 and favored Untouched Talent, with Patrick Valenzuela paying Keeneland a visit, paid $4.40 and $3.60. Her Majesty, Julien Leparoux aboard, got third, 3 1/4 lengths behind the winner and paid $5.40.She ran the 1 1/16 mile on Polytrack in 1:45.32.Cotton Blossom finished fourth, followed by Gatorize, Appealing Zophie, Get Ready Bertie, She's Included, Beautiful Venue, Call the Kitty, X Star, Pro Pink, Lisa M and Boat's Ghost.(Chart, Equibase)
