Conceit Proves Worthy of Praise in Dogwood

Taylor Made Stallions' leading sire Not This Time has grabbed headlines this week at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where a dozen of his yearlings have sold for $1 million or more. But his 3-year-old fillies on the racetrack have also done their part to command attention, as evidenced Sept. 19. Bodacious Bay took the $1 million Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing, and Conceit captured the $299,000 Dogwood Stakes (G3) by a head during a Downs After Dark card at Churchill Downs. While Bodacious Bay was a comfortable winner, Conceit only led for one or two strides of the 7-furlong Dogwood, catching runner-up Explora and third-place Movie Night right at the wire after those two duked it out throughout. Their front-running battle set the stage for Conceit's rally from fourth in the five-horse field under a perfectly timed ride from Mario Gutierrez. She crossed the wire in a final time of 1:22.60 on the fast main track following early splits of :23.13 and :45.12. She paid $13.46 for a $2 win wager. The winner, a homebred for Juddmonte and a full sister to 2025 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) winner Final Gambit, is out of the Tapit mare Pachinko. Winning trainer Brad Cox said he was pleased for owner/breeder Juddmonte. "It means a lot when a filly you raise wins a graded stake, and she's by a really good stallion, and it's a big win," Cox said.