Ball Dancing Surges to Jenny Wiley Score
Image:
Description:
Will Farish and Steve Mooney's Ball Dancing, making her second start off the layup, returned to the Keeneland course she seems to enjoy and posted a solid victory in the $300,000 Jenny Wiley Stakes (gr. IT) April 11 .
Last October the 4-year-old Exchange Rate filly ran second by three-quarters of a length to Crown Queen in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (gr. IT) at the Lexington oval. This spring she returned before a record Coolmore Lexington Day crowd of 37,193 to claim her first grade I score after running second by 1 1/2 lengths to fellow Chad Brown trainee Stephanie's Kitten in her season debut, the March 7 Hillsborough Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Tampa Bay Downs.
"They're both top class, they're very even," Brown said. "This filly came out of that race so much better for it, much sharper. We gave her the chance to get her grade I today and she did it. As long as she comes out of this race healthy, we have some big plans for her this year."
The attendance was the third-largest in track history and shattered the year-old Coolmore Lexington Day mark of 34,933.
After breaking well under jockey Javier Castellano from post 4 in a field of six older fillies and mares, Ball Dancing settled into a good tracking position third behind the pace set by Eden Prairie, who went a quarter in :23.97 and a half in :48.48 under mild pressure from Hard Not to Like, the 2014 Jenny Wiley winner. Castellano swung his mount out through three-quarters in 1:13.21, and she quickened away down the stretch to run a 1:36.98 mile en route to victory.
"Very impressive; she gave me a lot of confidence," Castellano said. "She's a kind of European-style horse, you need to cover up a little bit and save something for the end."
Ball Dancing covered the 1 1/16-miles on yielding turf in 1:43.08. Filimbi finished 2 1/2 lengths back in second and Hard Not to Like checked in third. Personal Diary, Eden Prairie, and Starstruck completed the order of finish. Emotional Kitten and Samiam scratched.
The winner went off favored at odds of 8-5 and returned $5.40, $2.80, and $2.20. Filimbi paid $3.20 and $2.40, and Hard Not to Like brought $2.40.
Bred in Kentucky by Kirk Wycoff and Deby Wycoff out of the Silver Hawk mare Ball Gown, Ball Dancing was a $55,000 purchase by Pegasus Farm, agent, from the 2012 Keeneland January sale as a yearling when consigned by Hidden Brook, agent. She began her career in France and won the Sands Point (gr. IIT) at Belmont Park in her U.S. debut in September 2014. The Jenny Wiley win improved her record to four wins and three thirds from nine starts, with earnings of $706,282.