Grade 1 winner Speech is primed and ready for her 2021 debut April 16 in the $100,000 Baird Doubledogdare Stakes (G3) at Keeneland, according to trainer Michael McCarthy.
"I'm excited to get her started," McCarthy said about the 4-year-old daughter of Mr Speaker who set a track record last year at Keeneland in the Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1). "She's had a short freshening at WinStar and has come back and not missed a beat since. She seems like she's sharp and acting like she's got running on her mind."
Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Madaket Stables, and Heider Family Stables', Speech is the 8-5 morning-line favorite in a field of seven that will be racing 1 1/16 miles on the main track. The filly was second twice in graded company prior to the Ashland Stakes that she won by three lengths in then-track record time of 1:41.26. Knicks Go would claim the record about three months later when he won an Oct. 4 allowance optional claiming race at the distance in 1:40.79. The son of Paynter went on to win the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).
Breeders' Cup World Championships' Saturday didn't go so well for Speech. She gamely stalked Serengeti Empress and eventual winner Gamine in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) through blistering early fractions of :21.77 and :44.27 and then got knocked off stride at the top of the stretch and faded to sixth.
"Just one of those things," McCarthy said of the Breeders' Cup performance. Prior to the Breeders' Cup, Speech finished third with the disqualification of Gamine in 2020's Sept. 4 edition of the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1).
"I think she's ready to make some noise first time out, but she'll run her race, and hopefully, we'll see bigger and better things later in the year," the trainer said. Speech will be ridden by Javier Castellano, who was aboard in the Ashland, and will be breaking from post 6.
A trio of challengers will provide Speech plenty of competition. Likely to join Speech in the early running will be William S. Farish's homebred Royal Flag and Beverly Anderson and Edward Seltzer's homebred Eres Tu .
Royal Flag, a 5-year-old daughter of Candy Ride , also will be making her 2021 debut in the Doubledogdare. Trained by Chad Brown, her last start produced a 2 1/4-length win in the Turnback the Alarm Handicap (G3). She has four wins from eight starts and never finished off the board. Joel Rosario has the mount.
Eres Tu is a 5-year-old daughter of Malibu Moon who also has a win at Keeneland, having won a 1 1/16-mile allowance race last October at the Lexington track. She went on to win the Allaire DuPont Stakes (G3) at Laurel Park. Eres Tu made her 2021 debut Feb. 20 at Gulfstream Park, where she was second in the Royal Delta Stakes (G3). Trained by Arnaud Delcour, the mare will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione and has been assigned 120 pounds. All other entries will carry 118.
Juddmonte Farms' homebred Bonny South will provide stiff competition, too. The 4-year-old daughter of Munnings won the TwinSpires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) last year and was second in the Alabama Stakes (G1), George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2), and the Nov. 26 Falls City Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs, which was her most recent race. She was fourth behind Speech in last year's Ashland. Trained by Brad Cox, Bonny South comes into the Doubledogdare off a five-furlong :58 4/5 bullet work at Churchill Downs. The filly will be ridden by Florent Geroux, who won 26% of his starts with Cox last year.
Other starters include grade 3-placed Bajan Girl , stakes-placed High Regard , and multiple winner Graceful Princess .
The Doubledogdare is race 9 on the card with a 5:30 p.m. ET post time.
Keeneland, Friday, April 16, 2021, Race 9Entries: Baird Doubledogdare S. (G3)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Royal Flag (KY)
Joel Rosario
118
Chad C. Brown
5/2
2
2High Regard (KY)
Rafael Bejarano
118
Victoria H. Oliver
20/1
3
3Graceful Princess (KY)
Luis Saez
118
Todd A. Pletcher
12/1
4
4Eres Tu (KY)
Tyler Gaffalione
120
Arnaud Delacour
4/1
5
5Bonny South (KY)
Florent Geroux
118
Brad H. Cox
3/1
6
6Speech (FL)
Javier Castellano
118
Michael W. McCarthy
8/5
7
7Bajan Girl (KY)
Corey J. Lanerie
118
Rohan Crichton
15/1