Just a head short of her first stakes win Aug. 10 in the Groupie Doll Stakes at Ellis Park, Regaled now aims to check off that career achievement in the $400,000 Locust Grove Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs Sept. 13.
That start was the first in for her new ownership as the formerly Maryland-based Mohaymen filly was transferred to the barn of trainer Whit Beckman following her $300,000 purchase by Legion Bloodstock at the Inglis Digital USA May Sale.
Now racing for the partnership of Ribble Farms and Front Page Equestrian, the filly came from off the pace in the one-mile Groupie Doll for her third consecutive stakes placing.
Video: Groupie Doll S. (BT)
There's no clear or consistent speedball among her five rivals to set up her late kick, but Beckman doesn't believe she needs a strong pace to be successful.
"She seems to run into fairly tepid paces," Beckman said. "If she gets that extra sixteenth and runs the same race that she did at Ellis on a track I think is more conducive to closers (Churchill Downs), then hopefully we'll be in a good spot."
The 4-year-old filly is the lone member of the six-horse field without a stakes victory, leading to her co-longest morning line odds at 8-1. However, Beckman feels she fits well in this group. Breaking from the rail, Regaled is directly inside of Full of Run Racing and Madaket Stables' Alpine Princess, who was a length behind Regaled in the Groupie Doll but is listed at a much shorter 2-1.
Alpine Princess does bring strong credentials for trainer Brad Cox, being a three-time stakes winner with three graded placings.
Before the Groupie Doll, the Classic Empire filly flashed early speed when taking the Mari Hulman George Memorial Handicap gate to wire over Saturday's 1 1/16-mile distance. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. takes the saddle for the first time.
The favorite at 8-5 is Breffni Farm homebred Royal Spa, who sports a 3-2-0 record from seven starts over the Louisville, Ky., oval. She was one of the key players of the track's distaff division this spring, winning the Shawnee Stakes (G3) in May over 1 1/16 miles before finishing second to 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna in the June 28 Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2).
Trainer Rodolphe Brisset took a grade 1 shot with the 5-year-old Violence mare when shipping west to Del Mar for the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (G1), where she stalked the pace before fading to fourth. She has since returned to Keeneland and worked three times ahead of her homecoming.
Other challengers include the always tough Louisiana-bred earner of more than $2.5 million, Free Like a Girl, a 19-time stakes winner owned by Gerald Bruno Jr., Carl Deville, Jerry Caroom, and her trainer Chasey Deville Pomier. The El Deal mare seeks the first graded triumph in her remarkable career.
Courtlandt Farms' Our Pretty Woman makes her first start since chasing Alpine Princess from second throughout the Mari Hulman. Respected as the third choice on the morning line, she makes her first start at Churchill Downs since winning the 2024 Monomoy Girl Overnight Stakes for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.
The final entrant is Payson Stud and RTA Trust's Corningstone, a four-time stakes winner who was runner-up in this race last year for trainer Kenny McPeek.
Churchill Downs, Saturday, September 13, 2025, Race 7Entries: Fasig-Tipton Locust Grove S. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Regaled (KY) Joseph D. Ramos 121 D. Whitworth Beckman 8/1 2 2Alpine Princess (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 121 Brad H. Cox 2/1 3 3Royal Spa (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 123 Rodolphe Brisset 8/5 4 4Corningstone (IN) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 121 Kenneth G. McPeek 8/1 5 5Free Like a Girl (LA) Corey J. Lanerie 121 Chasey Deville Pomier 6/1 6 6Our Pretty Woman (KY) Luis Saez 121 Steven M. Asmussen 4/1
