Harvey's Lil Goil

4th-Churchill Downs, $123,249, Msw, 5-3, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16mT, 1:42.44, fm, 6 1/2 lengths. GLORIA'S PRINCESS (f, 3, Cairo Prince--Gloria S, by Tapit) took on two turns Apr. 1 over Gulfstream Park's turf and finished 1 1/2 lengths for second. As the heavy 3-2 chalk in this spot, the gray filly showed speed and controlled the early fractions as the pacesetter into the backstretch. Around the far turn, Gloria's Princess began to extend her lead and down the lane she accelerated past the eighth pole to win going away by...

Grade I winners Harvey's Lil Goil (American Pharoah) and Civil Union (War Front) kick off their 2021 campaigns in Saturday's GIII Beaugay S. at Belmont Park. Harvey's Lil Goil followed a win in Keeneland's GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. Oct. 10 with a huge third--beaten only a neck at 20-1--in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland last time Nov. 7. Civil Union, winner of last term's GI Flower Bowl S. over this course, had a four-race winning steak snapped, finishing another two slots back...

Every year, the Kentucky Downs stakes schedule seems to get richer and attract better horses. This year, there were 16 stakes worth a combined $8.6 million and many were won by horses that could have an impact at the Breeders' Cup. The stakes schedule is a source of pride among the track's management team, but also a source of frustration. Only five of the stakes are graded and those are all Grade III events, which the track's senior vice president and general manager Ted Nicholson called "dumbfounding." "It's frustrating," Nicholson...

Versatile Harvey's Lil Goil (American Pharoah) turned the tables on Micheline (Bernardini)--who defeated her by a neck last time in the Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs--to become the first Grade I winner for Triple Crown-winning sire American Pharoah in Saturday's GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. at Keeneland. Off at 7-2 bidding to become Hall of Famer Bill Mott's second winner in this prestigious event, the grey employed her good cruising speed to chase Sweet Melania (American Pharoah) through honest enough fractions of :23.89, :47.75 and 1:12.16. She...

On a day of stellar open-length graded performances under the Twin Spires on the dirt, Harvey's Lil Goil reminded us that the grass can be just as exciting as she gave a heart-stopping performance to win by a head. One of several in the field of 13 who already had black-type experience, the gray was prominent early and always up with the leaders, keenly tracking longshot Eve of War (Declaration of War) from the outside behind fractions of :23.26 and :47.48. Harvey's Lil Goil collared that one at the quarter...

For racing fans missing the familiarity of the GI Kentucky Oaks this Friday, a loaded 14-horse field of talented sophomore fillies are ready to step in and take their star turn in the $400,000 GIII Fantasy S., which kicks off a sorely-needed blockbuster stakes weekend at Oaklawn. Favored at 2-1 on the morning line is Venetian Harbor (Munnings), making her first start in nearly three months. A debut second at even-money sprinting over the Del Mar turf Nov. 15, the $110,000 Keeneland September graduate moved to the main track Dec....

It's been more than a month since the last TDN Kentucky Oaks Top 10 appeared, and how things have changed in such a short period of time. The GI Kentucky Oaks will not be run May 1 but, hopefully, Sept. 4. The road to the Oaks is filled with uncertainty as, with so many racetracks closed, there is no clear path to the race. The only traditional prep for the Oaks that is left on the schedule is the May 1 GIII Fantasy S. at Oaklawn, a race that is...

Harvey's Lil Goil started a bit slowly, but finished fast to dominate Sunday's Busanda S. at Aqueduct and become the fifth black-type winner for her Triple Crown-winning champion first-crop sire--on his birthday no less. A debut fourth on the local lawn Nov. 9, the grey broke through by an emphatic six-length margin going a mile over this good main track Dec. 12 and was heavily supported to see out a additional furlong for this. Away last, Harvey's Lil Goil was hung very wide while trying to make up some ground...