Multiple graded stakes winner Farrell will return to racing action for the first time since she competed in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) more than four months ago when she headlines a field of 14 3-year-old fillies that includes Tequilita in the $100,000 Dogwood Stakes Sept. 23—the featured seven-furlong event at Churchill Downs.
Owned and bred by Coffee Pot Stables and trained by Wayne Catalano, Farrell came into the Kentucky Oaks on a four-race win streak that included victories in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) and Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2). The daughter of Malibu Moon struggled over the rain-soaked Churchill track in the Oaks, however, and finished last in the field of 14.
"It was disappointing," jockey Channing Hill said after the race. "I didn't think (the sloppy conditions) would bother her, but obviously it did. You never know with this game, but that's why you have to run them. She did everything else good but like the track."
The weather conditions for Farrell's first start in 141 days are likely to be ideal. The National Weather Service forecast for Louisville Saturday calls for sunny skies, which means the track will be "fast."
Farrell will break from post No. 8 in the field of 14 under Hill, and will cut-back to a one-turn sprint for the first time since October.
While the weather won't be an issue, the Maryland invasion of Tequilita could be. Owned and bred by Dorothy Matz and trained by her husband Michael, Tequilita was a surging third behind winner American Gal in the Longines Test Stakes (GI) at seven furlongs Aug. 5 at Saratoga Race Course—her first start since a seventh-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks.
The daughter of Union Rags , who is cross-entered in the Charles Town Oaks (G3) Saturday, secured a spot in the Kentucky Oaks with a win in the the seven-furlong Forward Gal Stakes (G2) in February and finished second to Salty in the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) in April.
The lightly-raced Covenant, trained by Churchill Downs' all-time leading trainer in races and stakes won, Bill Mott, was a dominant 6 3/4-length maiden winner at 6 1/2 furlongs over a sloppy main track at Saratoga July 24.
Churchill Downs, Saturday, September 23, 2017, Race 9Entries: Dogwood S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Pinch Hit (KY) Jon Kenton Court 118 Brad H. Cox 15/1 2 2Champagne Problems (KY) Calvin H. Borel 118 Ian R. Wilkes 20/1 3 3Tequilita (KY) Luis Saez 122 Michael R. Matz 4/1 4 4Nineteenth Street (KY) Alonso Quinonez 118 Steve Margolis 20/1 5 5Too Much Tip (KY) Julio A. Garcia 122 Wesley A. Ward 10/1 6 6Minnie Blip (KY) Miguel Mena 118 Albert M. Stall, Jr. 15/1 7 7Cara Blythe (KY) Alex L. Canchari 118 Jack C. Van Berg 20/1 8 8Farrell (KY) Channing Hill 122 Wayne M. Catalano 3/1 9 9Student Body (KY) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 118 Christopher Davis 12/1 10 10No More Babies (KY) Joseph Rocco, Jr. 118 Philip A. Bauer 15/1 11 11My Sweet Stella (KY) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 118 D. Wayne Lukas 15/1 12 12Jordan's Henny (KY) Corey J. Lanerie 118 Michael A. Tomlinson 12/1 13 13Covenant (KY) Florent Geroux 118 William I. Mott 4/1 14 14Perfect Wife (KY) Chris Landeros 118 Kenneth G. McPeek 20/1
