Blowout Lives Up to Her Name in Churchill Distaff Turf

Peter Brant's Blowout  found a second, a third, and then a fourth gear May 1 at Churchill Downs and turned in a stunning wire-to-wire performance in the $500,000 Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (G2T). 

Blowout left little to chance in Saturday's one-mile grass test and went straight to the front of the pack from the break. Guided by Flavien Prat, the pair opened up a comfortable 3 1/2-length lead lead along the back stretch while ticking off the first quarter mile in :24.28. 

Racing in the three path, Blowout opened up her leading margin to eight lengths as the half-mile went in :48.39 and looked fully in charge as the field rounded the turn for home. At the top of the lane, the pack began to converge on the leader, and she was soon pressed to her outside by Zofelle , Abscond , and New York Girl , who came charging down the stretch to challenge late. 

As the most live shot to catch Blowout, New York Girl was set down by jockey John Velazquez and rallied in a last-ditch attempt to take the lead. But Blowout ($5.80) refused to yield in the final strides and held off her competition until the bitter end, winning by a half-length in 1:36.30. After New York Girl came Zofelle, Abscond, Got Stormy , and She's Got You .

"She was running so easy up front and I thought the times were not that fast, so I was very happy," said Prat. "Then when we came to the eighth pole, they all came after me, and it looked like they might go by. But when she saw them, she regrouped and fired up again, and we won it."

"I thought Flavien did an excellent job settling her down; as you can see, she can be a little difficult to handle," said Blowout's trainer Chad Brown."I thought once they turned for home they were going to close in again and she was going to wait for horses, but (Prat) said when she heard the horses behind her, she kicked in again, thankfully."  

At 3, Blowout won both the Wild Applause and the Pebbles stakes. The daughter of Dansili  made just three starts at 4 but placed second in both the Noble Damsel Stakes (G3T) and Matriarch Stakes (G1T). 

"She can be difficult; she wants to be forward, and she pulls, but she's actually better with a target. And it's hard to find two-turn races for her with a target because she's so fast," said Brown. "I was surprised with how far in front she was at one point. But guided by the fractions and looking at it from a stamina point, there was no issue. At that point it was mental. She'll be heading to the Just a Game (G1T) at Belmont next."

Bred in Great Britain by Dayton Investments, Blowout is out of the group 1-winner Beauty Parlour  (by Deep Impact). Offered by The Castlebridge Consignment to the 2016 Goffs November Foals Sale, Blowout was purchased by Brant for $481,095 in the name of his White Birch Farm operation. 

The Churchill Distaff Turf Mile, Blowout's first start of 2021, improved her record to 4-7-1 from 12 starts with $718,600 in earnings.

Video: Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile S. (G2T)