Midnight Bisou Half Sister Wicked Bisou to Debut

The seventh race at Keeneland Oct. 17 will likely draw more eyes than the usual maiden special weight. Among the field's 12 juvenile fillies will be Wicked Bisou, a half sister to champion Midnight Bisou, who retired from racing Sept. 30 after suffering a sesamoid fracture in her right front fetlock. 

Bred and campaigned by Woodford Thoroughbreds, Wicked Bisou is a daughter of Wicked Strong , whose top effort came at 3 when he won the Twinspires.com Wood Memorial Stakes (G1) for owner Centennial Farms and trainer James Jerkens. Wicked Bisou is out of the Repent mare Diva Delite, who was purchased by David Redvers in 2019 for $1.2 million at The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton's premier breeding stock sale. The mare was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency and offered in foal to Triple Crown winner Justify . 

Trained by Tom Amoss, Wicked Bisou has been training steadily at Churchill Downs leading up to her debut, which will be run at about seven furlongs. In the filly's most recent work Oct. 9, she breezed five furlongs on the main track in 1:01 3/5. Corey Lanerie will have the call from post 10. Morning-line odds for the filly are 4-1. 

Midnight Bisou was retired with earnings of more than $7.4 million and a record of 13-6-3 from 22 starts. The daughter of Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa's Midnight Lute  was awarded an Eclipse Award in 2019 as champion older dirt female. Her five top-level wins were the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) and Cotillion Stakes (G1) in 2018, and the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1), Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1), and Personal Ensign Stakes Presented by Lia Infiniti (G1) in 2019. 

Bill Spawr trained Midnight Bisou for her first six starts through a third-place finish in the 2018 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). Thereafter, she was transferred to trainer Steve Asmussen. She was campaigned in partnership by Bloom Racing Stable, Madaket Stables, and Allen Racing.

Wicked Bisou will not be the only well-connected runner in the field. Casner Racing's Hippie Cowgirl, a daughter of Taylor Made Stallions' Not This Time , is from the female family of grade 1 winner and sire Creative Cause  (by Giant's Causeway), grade 2 winner and sire Destin  (Giant's Causeway), and multiple graded stakes winner Vexatious (Giant's Causeway), who took the Aug. 1 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course by a neck over Midnight Bisou. 

Trained by Eoin Harty, Hippie Cowgirl will break from post 2 under James Graham. 

Leaving from post 7 under Rafael Bejarano will be Bel Fiore, an Ontario-bred daughter of WinStar Farm's Exaggerator . Trained by Cherie DeVaux and owned by Backstretch Farm, Manganaro Bloodstock, and David Ingordo, the filly is out of Shooting Party (Sky Classic) and is a half sister to grade 3 winner Breaking Lucky  (Lookin At Lucky ). 

Rounding out the siblings of note is Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's Willful Woman, a daughter of Darley stallion Nyquist  who brought $400,000 from her owners when purchased from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment to The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale. Out of the Mr. Greeley mare Foxy Danseur, the dark brown filly is a half sister to Fantasy Stakes (G3) winner Ever So Clever (Medaglia d'Oro ). 

Willful Woman is trained by Asmussen and will partner with Ricardo Santana Jr. from post 5. 

Entries: Race 7 (MSW) at KEE on 10/17/20

Keeneland, Saturday, October 17, 2020, Race 7

• MSW
• About 7f
• Dirt
• $70,000
• 2 yo Fillies
• 4:24 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Rainbow Belle (KY)	Joseph Talamo	119	Dale L. Romans	20/1
3	3Three Tipsy Chix (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	119	Ian R. Wilkes	6/1
4	4Miss Dial (KY)	David Cohen	119	Thomas M. Amoss	6/1
5	5Willful Woman (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	119	Steven M. Asmussen	6/1
6	6Mia At Midnight (KY)	Gabriel Saez	119	Michael K. McDonald	30/1
7	7Bel Fiore (ON)	Rafael Bejarano	119	Cherie DeVaux	12/1
8	8Dottie (KY)	Manuel Franco	119	Brendan P. Walsh	15/1
9	9Caught Looking (KY)	Florent Geroux	119	George R. Arnold, II	15/1
10	10Wicked Bisou (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	119	Thomas M. Amoss	4/1
11	11Thinking (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	119	H. Graham Motion	9/2
12	12Miner's Queen (KY)	Adam Beschizza	119	Steven M. Asmussen	12/1