By Alan Carasso
The lesser-fancied and less-heralded of an uncoupled Godolphin-owned entry in Thursday's GIII Falls City Stakes at Churchill Downs, the beautifully bred Loved (Medaglia d'Oro) went through her gears in the final three-sixteenths of a mile to cause a mild upset. 'TDN Rising Star' Tarifa (Bernardini), the 7-4 favorite exiting a tough victory in the GII Mother Goose Stakes Oct. 26, boxed on for an alibi-free second while no match for the winner.
Having earned her first black-type success in the Mari Hulman George Memorial Handicap at Horseshoe Indianapolis this past July, Loved was the third wagering choice in the Thanksgiving Day co-feature off a sixth to Musical Mischief (Into Mischief) in the local GII Locust Grove Stakes Sept. 14 and a longshot fourth in the GI Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland Oct. 6.
Settled in mid-division and off the flank of Tarifa early on as Enclosure (Arrogate) took a keen hold beneath Brian Hernandez, Jr., Loved received her cue from Tyler Gaffalione leaving the half-mile marker and rolled up three deep at the three-eighths as Musical Mischief tried to rally from between rivals. Going clearly best of the bunch as they hit the stretch, Loved quickly opened up on her rivals and was not for catching from there. Lexa (Gun Runner) spiced up the triple as the 25-1 longest price on the board.
“We were pretty confident with her coming into this race,” winning trainer Brendan Walsh said. “She's been training at Turfway and within the last three weeks really started to put things together. She was training and moving great in the mornings. We're glad she was able to do that when it mattered today and become a graded stakes winner.”
Pedigree Notes:
A half-sister to Maxfield, who won the GI Clark Stakes on this weekend three years ago, Loved is out of a winning daughter of the wonderful three-time graded winner Caress, a $3.1-million purchase by John Ferguson on behalf of Godolphin at Keeneland November in 2000 who produced future GISW and successful sire Sky Mesa (Pulpit) earlier that year and would also become the dam of MGSW/GISP Golden Velvet (Seeking the Gold), whose six winners include GSWs Lucullan (Hard Spun) and Innovative Idea (Bernardini), MSP Embossed (Medaglia d'Oro) and SP Soft Touch (Uncle Mo). Caress was a full-sister to GSW/MGISP Country Cat and GSW sire Bernstein and a half to GSW/G1SP Della Francesca (Danzig). This is also the female family of champion Outstandingly.
The 94th worldwide graded/group winner for her 25-year-old stallion and the 55th worldwide graded/group winner from a daughter of the much-missed Bernardini, Loved has a 2-year-old half-sister named Wondrous (Uncle Mo), a weanling by Curlin and Velvety returned to that Hill 'n' Dale stallion for her most recent covering.
Thursday, Churchill Downs
FALLS CITY S.-GIII, $399,505, Churchill Downs, 11-28, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:50.17, my.
1–LOVED, 121, m, 5, by Medaglia d'Oro
1st Dam: Velvety, by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Caress, by Storm Cat
3rd Dam: La Affirmed, by Affirmed
1ST GRADED-STAKES WIN. O-Godolphin LLC; B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brendan P Walsh; J-Tyler Gaffalione. $240,455. Lifetime Record: 10-5-0-0, $585,955. *1/2 to Maxfield (Street Sense), MGISW, $2,001,812. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Tarifa, 120, f, 3, Bernardini–Kite Beach, by Awesome Again. 'TDN Rising Star' O-Godolphin LLC; B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brad H Cox. $78,050.
3–Lexa, 121, f, 4, Gun Runner–Smile More, by Tiznow.
1ST BLACK-TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK-TYPE. ($140,000 RNA Ylg '21 KEESEP). O/B-Upson Downs Farm & Louis W Wright (KY); T-D Whitworth Beckman. $39,025.
Margins: 3 3/4, 3, NK. Odds: 4.32, 1.75, 25.57.
Also Ran: Neon Icon, Enclosure, Musical Mischief, Peignoir, Quatro Y Vinte (Uru). Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
Loved wins the G3 Falls City Stakes for @brenpwalsh and @godolphin with @Tyler_Gaff aboard! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/tGv7R4sXOO
— Churchill Downs (@ChurchillDowns) November 28, 2024
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