It has been fully two decades since Silverbulletday (Silver Deputy) became the most recent winner of the GI Darley Alcibiades S. (then a Grade II event) to double up in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, but 'TDN Rising Star' Restless Rider (Distorted Humor) will enter this year's test with every chance to snap that streak following a comprehensive 2 1/2-length success on opening day of the fall meet at Keeneland.
Taking full advantage of her low draw in gate three and adding Lasix for this first attempt at two turns, Restless Rider jumped on terms and was part of the early pace, then came back nicely to Breeders' Cup Classic-winning jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr. to sit the box-seat trip while covered up from third behind pacesetting Meadow Dance (Jimmy Creed).
Given a bit of rein to take closer order entering the second turn, Restless Rider was guided to the outside of Meadow Dance midway on the bend, kicked into a clear lead and was in hand the final 40 yards. Reflect (Trappe Shot) sat a ground-saving trip beneath James Graham and came with a mild close to finish a clear second, while Meadow Dance held for third. Chocolate Kisses (Candy Ride {Arg}) closed from last to be fourth, albeit well-beaten. Restless Rider becomes the 17th Grade I winner for her sire and 18th as a broodmare sire for Unbridled's Song.
No better than an 88-10 chance on her 5 1/2-furlong debut at Churchill June 8, Restless Rider pulled clear in the final eighth of a mile to graduate by 2 3/4 lengths to earn a first trip to stakes company. Favored at 11-10 for the June 30 Debutante S., the gray filly was building up a full head of steam, when she lost a good deal of her momentum when checking hard with less than a half-mile to run. But she picked herself off the canvas and did so with a vengeance, pummeling her seven rivals to score by 11 1/4 lengths. The second choice to American Pharoah's 'TDN Rising Star' half-sister Chasing Yesterday (Tapit) in the Sept. 1 Spinaway S., Restless Rider endured a wide trip and settled for second to Sippican Harbor (Orb). Trainer Ken McPeek, winning the Alcibiades for the fourth time (She's a Devil Due, 2000; Take Charge Lady, 2001; and Dream Empress, 2008), said things had not been straight-forward since Saratoga.
“She took us. She is really, really special,” he said. “It hasn't been as easy as it might look on paper and what she did today. [With] the weather changing here, there's been a lot of horses that have been dealing with coughs here and there. She got one of them, and we were worried a little bit. But we kept on top of it. We have a great team. It's a great team effort, and she is special.”
Pedigree Notes:
Restless Rider is one of two winners from her dam, a half-sister to multiple Grade II winner Private Vow (Broken Vow) and a $450,000 buyback out of the 2008 Keeneland September sale. The mare's foals have been uniformly well-received at public auction. Restless Rider's 3-year-old half-brother Granite (Speightstown) was a $400,000 acquisition by China Horse Club and Maverick Racing out of the 2015 KEESEP sale, and her foal of 2017, a colt by Into Mischief, fetched $750,000 from Spendthrift at this year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. Silky Serenade produced a Kantharos colt earlier this year after being purchased by Machmer Hall for $75,000 at Keeneland November last fall. She was most recently bred to Honor Code.
Friday, Keeneland
DARLEY ALCIBIADES S.-GI, $400,000, Keeneland, 10-5, 2yo, f,
1 1/16m, 1:44.23, ft.
1–RESTLESS RIDER, 118, f, 2, by Distorted Humor
1st Dam: Silky Serenade, by Unbridled's Song
2nd Dam: Smooth as Silk, by Deputy Minister
3rd Dam: Sacque (GB), by Elegant Air (GB)
'TDN Rising Star' 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I
WIN. ($150,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP). O-Fern Circle Stables and
Three Chimneys Farm, LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred
Holdings LLC (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek; J-Brian Joseph
Hernandez, Jr. $240,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $401,360.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick
Rating: A.[bullet ad=”stonestreet-bredraised”][bullet ad=”denali-stud-sold-by”][bullet ad=”select-sales-dam-sells-hip133″][bullet ad=”kbif-g1″]2–Reflect, 118, f, 2, by Trappe Shot
1st Dam: Scat Patty, by Scat Daddy
2nd Dam: Our Nancy Lee, by Touch Gold
3rd Dam: Scratch Paper, by Notebook
($70,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP). O-Impact Thoroughbreds LLC and
Madaket Stables LLC; B-T/C Stable, LLC (KY); T-J. Keith
Desormeaux. $80,000.
3–Meadow Dance, 118, f, 2, by Jimmy Creed
1st Dam: Meadowbound, by Broken Vow
2nd Dam: Meadow Vista, by Meadowlake
3rd Dam: Parsifal, by L'Enjoleur
($7,000 Wlg '16 KEENOV; $110,000 2yo '18 EASMAY). O-Right
Time Racing III, LLC and Madaket Stables LLC; B-William
Humphries (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $40,000.[bullet ad=”bswbloodstock-lizcrow-privatepurchase”][bullet ad=”sbmtrainingandsales-brokenandtrained”]Margins: 2HF, 2 3/4, 1HF. Odds: 1.30, 11.90, 13.40.
Also Ran: Chocolate Kisses, Boujie Girl, Malocchio, Abbo, Somewhere, Into Trouble, Bella Ciao, My Wynter Rose, Catherinethegreat, Kim K, Lady T N T. Scratched: Khairiya, Champagne Anyone. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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