Special Wan Has Local Win On Her Side in Ladies Turf

With a unique, undulating turf course and massive purses that draw big fields from far and wide, Kentucky Downs is a notoriously hard track to predict final odds at, never mind results. But Team Valor International and Steven Rocco's Special Wan , most recently third in the Just a Game Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course, should be among the favorites in the $2 million Ladies Turf Stakes (G3T) Aug. 30.

The one-mile grass event drew an eclectic field of 11 fillies and mares that also includes Beverly D. Stakes (G2T) winner Charlene's Dream , Mint Julep Stakes (G3T) winner Pin Up Betty , last year's Matriarch Stakes (G1T) winner Sacred Wish , and two European-based runners.

Special Wan, a 5-year-old Irish-bred mare by Belardo , has won two of four starts in America since her import last year. Trainer Brendan Walsh has the benefit of knowing she can handle Kentucky Downs, as her first start stateside was a victory in a first-level allowance race at the Franklin, Ky., track last Sept. 7. She is the only entrant with a local win.

Special Wan finished 2024 with a seventh in the First Lady Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland, but her two 2025 starts have been sharp. She won the Honey Fox Stakes (G3T) March 1 at Gulfstream Park, utilizing a sub-:23 final quarter to defeat fellow Ladies Turf entrant In Our Time . And in the Just a Game, Special Wan finished third, 1 3/4 lengths behind Dynamic Pricing  and a length back of Excellent Truth , next-out winner of the Diana Stakes (G1T).

Joel Rosario, who piloted Special Wan in her Kentucky Downs win and in her most recent start, has been named to ride.

The top two finishers from the July 19 Matchmaker Stakes (G3T) at Monmouth Park—Juddmonte homebred Segesta  and Sacred Wish—will face each other again. As will the top three finishers from the June 1 Mint Julep at Churchill Downs—Pin Up Betty , Charlene's Dream , and Movin' On Up .

Three Diamonds Farm's Pin Up Betty, a 4-year-old Constitution   filly, is a neck away from being undefeated in three starts this year. Following a second in the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes (G2T) at Churchill, she won the Mint Julep and the Anchorage Overnight Stakes, defeating Charlene's Dream again at the Louisville, Ky., track for trainer Mike Maker.

Between the two European shippers—4-year-old Cheshire Dancer  and 3-year-old Lady Ilze —the latter has the more exciting, unexposed form. Westminster Stud's Lady Ilze won in Poland as a 2-year-old and took this year's German One Thousand Guineas (G2) at age 3. She then ran fifth when facing a tough, older group in the Falmouth Stakes (G1) at Newmarket Racecourse July 11.

Cheshire Dancer ships to Kentucky off a career-best victory in the Valiant Stakes (G3) at Ascot Racecourse July 26. Frankie Dettori will ride for trainer Hugo Palmer.

Bowling Green Gold Cup

Also Saturday at Kentucky Downs, the $1 million Bowling Green Gold Cup Invitational Stakes, a 2 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up, drew a field of eight. Stuart Janney III's 6-year-old Limited Liability  won a previous version of this race last year when it was called the Nashville Gold Cup Stakes and carried a $440,000 purse.

Eckhard Sauren's European raider Flatten the Curve , who won a trio of marathon turf stakes in Germany this year, including a group 2, could find himself at home at this course and distance. He ran fourth in the off-the-turf Belmont Gold Cup Stakes (G3) June 6 at Saratoga.