Getting to Know Got Lucky

Got Lucky earning a spot in the Breeders' Cup Distaff with her win in the Oct. 5 Spinster Stakes. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
Named because her owners were just lucky that Got Lucky was conceived, the filly lived up to her name on Oct. 4 when she won the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland to earn a Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In berth to the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
The Spinster victory was just the latest victory in a stellar year for the 4-year-old filly, who is confirmed to be headed to the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 30. As she gets ready to run in the toughest race of her life, let’s get to know Got Lucky.
Race Résumé
Got Lucky was graded stakes-placed before she even broke her maiden, finishing second to Stopchargingmaria (who is also running in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff) in the 2013 Demoiselle Stakes.
She won her first start at 3 by 5 ¼ lengths to break her maiden before being thrown to the sharks in graded stakes races, finishing second to Untapable and My Miss Sophia in her Kentucky Oaks prep races. The filly finished seventh in the Oaks for her first off-the-board finish. That led to her to drop down to the allowance level where she won by a neck before ending the year with two fifth-place finishes in Grade 1 races.
Got Lucky won her 4-year-old debut but finished fifth in a Grade 3 in her next start. However, she really stepped up her game over the summer. Finishing second in the Monmouth Beach Stakes, she reeled off a 5 ½ length victory in the Molly Pitcher Stakes, then a Lady’s Secret victory. She was stopped up by Sheer Drama in the Personal Ensign when finishing second to that Distaff contender by 1 ¼ lengths at Saratoga in late August.
GOT LUCKY AFTER THE LADY'S SERET

Her next start was the aforementioned Spinster Stakes where she was part of an exciting three-way finish.
Got Lucky was near the back of the field for most of the race, as far back as 6 ¼ lengths and didn’t really start rolling until the far turn. In mid-stretch she was making up ground on the dueling pair of Untapable and Yahilwa but it wasn’t until inside the last eighth of a mile that it looked like she may be a contender for the win.
Got Lucky kicked into gear for jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. and denied Untapable what looked to be a good comeback victory by a neck with front runner Yahilwa running a very credible race to finish third by a little over a neck.
2015 SPINSTER STAKES

Video courtesy of Breeders’ Cup World Championships
“We’ve bred good horses and the Grade 1s I win are usually in the sales ring,” said co-owner John Sikura. “Now I know the allure of (why people buy yearlings); to have a thrill like this. If you sell a horse really well, it feels really well for the moment but owning a good horse, it feels good forever … If you care about the horse and do this for a living and have a passion for it, it’s pretty overwhelming.  [Keeneland] is like the cathedral for racing, to come and win this race means a lot.”
Got Lucky has a challenge ahead of her with her running style. Other than races where she has just totally outclassed the field, Got Lucky has usually closed from the back of the field and that almost always leaves a horse pace-dependent. However, there looks to be a decent amount of speed in the race with Wedding Toast, Frivolous, Yahilwa, Stopchargingmaria and even potentially Untapable all on the pace up front.
The win over the same distance as the Distaff on the same track will also help Got Lucky, who also doesn’t have to worry too much about weather as she broke her maiden on a sloppy track.
Got Lucky has one of the highest Equibase speed figures of all dirt females with a 115, the same figure she ran in the listed Lady’s Secret Stakes in August.
Pedigree
Got Lucky is one of just 36 foals from A.P. Indy’s final crop, hence her name.
Showing how dominant of a sire he has been in North America, A.P. Indy has two foals from that final crop, Got Lucky and Honor Code, in the Breeders’ Cup. He is also the grandsire of leading sire Tapit, who has multiple runners in the event as well. Surprisingly, A.P. Indy has only had two Breeders’ Cup winners from 37 starters.
Got Lucky’s dam Malka has two winners from two foals to race and was a winner herself at two but more impressive is her dam Get Lucky.
Get Lucky is one of the definitions of blue hen mare with nine of her foals winning races and four winning graded stakes. She is also the dam of multiple superstar dams with her daughter Daydreaming producing Grade 1 winner Imagining, Quickest producing Grade 1 winner Callback, She’s a Winner producing Haskell winner Bluegrass Cat and best of all was Supercharger producing 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver.
SUPER SAVER

Get Lucky’s son Girolamo is also starting to make an impact as a sire with 13 winners and a stakes winner from his first crop to race.
Got Lucky’s family continues to get stronger with Get Lucky’s siblings, a group that includes champion Rhythm and the dam of Grade 1 winner Frost Giant among others. Overall, under her first three dams, Got Lucky’s family has 25 stakes winners with 19 of those having won graded stakes and eight winning Grade 1 races.
With her Spinster victory and the pace looking to be a quick one, the Breeders’ Cup Distaff may turn into exactly what Got Lucky needs to add another Grade 1 to her resume.
Got Lucky is also being overlooked in early talks about the race, leading me to believe that those who want to bet on her may get good odds next Friday when they place their bets. The filly has already proven that luck is on her side, a good sign going into this year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff.