A field of 11 turf fillies and mares will gather beneath the twin spires at Churchill Downs on Thanksgiving Nov. 28 in the $300,000 Cardinal Stakes (G3T) over 1 1/8 miles. Bradley Thoroughbreds, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Cambron Equine, and Laura Leigh Stable's Implicated is the lone graded winner in the field, an accomplishment she's achieved twice.
The most recent of those victories came by 1 3/4 lengths at Woodbine June 29 in the Nassau Stakes (G2T), but she has been unable to find that form since. After lackluster efforts in the Aug. 31 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Stakes (G3T)—which trainer Brendan Walsh attributed to the filly not handling Kentucky Downs' surface—and the Oct. 5 First Lady Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland, Walsh is hopeful a return to Churchill Downs will bring a return to form for the 4-year-old daughter of Connect .
"She has shown a liking for the track here," Walsh said about the Louisville, Ky., course, over which she won a one-mile allowance optional claimer in May. "It looks like this is a good spot for her, so I'm expecting her to run very well."
Walsh will also saddle Qatar Racing's Queen Regent, who began her career with eight starts in Europe.
The 4-year-old Roaring Lion filly passed her first American test for Walsh by winning a Kentucky Downs allowance in September. She will enter the starting gate Thursday 19 days after her third-place finish in the Nov. 9 Maple Leaf Stakes (G3) at Woodbine, her stakes debut.
"She's a progressive filly. She should get the pace that she needs here," Walsh said. "We're coming back a little quick with her, but she seems like she's done well since she ran at Woodbine. We're hopeful for a very good run."
Also hopeful for a good run is trainer Ian Wilkes, who sends out Whitham Thoroughbreds' stakes-winning homebred Magical Lute.
The 4-year-old Maclean's Music filly has found her way to this spot by luck of—or lack thereof—the condition book. With no desirable dirt race on the conditions, Wilkes took a shot with Magical Lute on the turf for the first time in her 17-race career Oct. 18 at Keeneland. She performed well, finishing third while beaten just three-quarters of a length.
"I had never run her on the turf so I gave her a try and her effort was a really good race," Wilkes said. "It was worth trying again just to see how she likes it; was it a fluke effort or was it for real?"
Wilkes originally wanted to run her in another allowance, but when the intended race didn't fill he shifted gears toward winning the filly's first stakes.
Narrowly ahead of her in that Keeneland allowance was runner-up Stir Crazy, who also returns in this spot for trainer Mike Maker and owners Paradise Farms and David Staudacher.
Other stakes winners in the field include Brownwood Farm's Quality Star for trainer Paulo Lobo and Jane Bacharach, William DeBurgh, and Richard Schatz's Duvet Day.
Churchill Downs, Thursday, November 28, 2024, Race 11Entries: Cardinal S. (G3T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 She's Lookin Lucky (KY) Florent Geroux 121 Matt A. Shirer - 2 Magical Lute (KY) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 121 Ian R. Wilkes - 3 Duvet Day (IRE) Flavien Prat 121 Michael W. McCarthy - 4 Queen Regent (GB) Lanfranco Dettori 121 Brendan P. Walsh - 5 Heart Spin (KY) Irving Moncada 121 Anna Navarrete - 6 Implicated (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 121 Brendan P. Walsh - 7 Stir Crazy (KY) Luis Saez 121 Michael J. Maker - 8 Harvey's Princess (KY) John McKee 121 Marcelino Salas - 9 Adrasteia (KY) Albin Jimenez 118 Fergus Bogle - 10 Dreaming of Mo (KY) Corey J. Lanerie 121 Dale L. Romans - 11 Quality Star (KY) Luan Machado 121 Paulo H. Lobo -
