A sprint specialist, Twilight Gleaming made her seasonal debut Saturday with a clear win in Keeneland's 5 ½ furlong Giant's Causeway S. The GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint winner from 2021, the Stonestreet-owned 'TDN Rising Star' won two of her four starts last year culminating in a fourth-place effort behind GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Caravel (Mizzen Mast) in the GIII Franklin S. at Keeneland Oct. 16. Not seen since, Twilight Gleaning returned to the races with aplomb Saturday as the 5-2 favorite.
Sitting pretty outside of Miner's Queen (Bernardini), she kept pressure on that pacesetter through an opening half in :44.39. Pushed to the front from the three path around the turn, Twilight Gleaming kicked into gear past the furlong marker and easily overtook the lead, keeping a closing 87-1 shot Querobin Duorada at bay for the win.
Trainer Wesley Ward seemed to indicate a return to Royal Ascot for his winning filly.
“Both fillies (Love Reigns and Twilight Gleaming) certainly look like they would do really, really well in the G1 King's Stand. We'll get home and assess it with the team. To have a stakes record in this race–there's been a lot of great fillies that have run in it– that really says a lot.”
Twilight Gleaming has a placed 3-year-old half-brother, Spartan Arrow (Ire) (Sioux Nation), a 2-year-old half-sister by Phoenix of Spain (Ire), and a yearling Ribchester (Ire) half-brother still to race. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
GIANT'S CAUSEWAY S., $214,650, Keeneland, 4-15, 3yo/up, f/m, 5 1/2fT, 1:01.74, fm.
1–TWILIGHT GLEAMING (IRE), 122, f, 4, National Defense
(GB)–Thames Pageant (GB), by Dansili (GB). (£75,000 Ylg '20
GOFOR). O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Pier House Stud (Ire);
T-Wesley A. Ward; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $113,150. Lifetime Record:
GSW-USA, SW-Fr, GSP-Eng, 10-6-3-0, $906,580.
2–Querobin Dourada, 122, f, 4, Capo Bastone–Gusto Dolce
(Uru), by T. H. Approval. O-Brownwood Farm, LLC; B-Haras
Phillipson Inc. (KY); T-Paulo H. Lobo. $45,625.
3–Star Devine (Ire), 122, m, 5, Fastnet Rock (Aus)–Stars At
Night (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). (200,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT).
O-Lawrence Goichman; B-Rockhart Trading Ltd. (Ire); T-Jorge
Abreu. $18,250.
Margins: 1HF, HD, NK. Odds: 2.77, 87.18, 5.34.
Also Ran: Happy Soul, Little Jewel, Mamba Wamba (Ire), Minaun (Ire)-(DH), Miner's Queen-(DH), Oeuvre, Opening Buzz, Train to Artemus, Creative Credit. Scratched: Amy C (GB), Fast Giselle, Sarah Harper.
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