Beaumont

Godolphin's Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile), bet hard throughout, ran to the money in Sunday's GIII Beaumont S. at Keeneland, picking up her first stakes win with a daylight romp against six overmatched rivals. Debuting with a smooth 4 1/2-length wire-to-wire score while geared down late Aug. 20 at Ellis, the homebred disappointed a bit when flattening out to fifth in the GI Darley Alcibiades S. on this strip Oct. 8. Finishing second as the favorite in the Fern Creek S. Nov. 27 at Churchill, the bay was a distant runner-up...

What a difference a year makes. Last March, when the coronavirus pandemic first descended upon America, the cancellation of sporting events left and right drove home, like few other signs did, how serious the situation was. In the racing world, there was arguably no greater loss of normalcy at that time than was felt when Keeneland was forced to scrap its iconic spring meet. And while races eventually returned to the central Kentucky oval, fans didn't for the entirety of 2020. Friday, the familiar sights of April in Lexington--the colorful...