Diva Express, I'm a Looker Dead Heat at CD

Not one but two 4-year-old fillies secured their first stakes wins when Diva Express and I'm a Looker earned the dead-heat victory in the $100,000 Winning Colors Stakes (gr. III) May 28 at Churchill Downs. 

I'm a Looker and jockey Robby Albarado appeared to get the advantage on Diva Express in deep stretch as those two dueled to the line, but the latter, under Julien Leparoux, rallied back on the inside in the final strides to earn the dead-heat win.

"I thought he (Albarado) beat me. He got in front of me in the stretch," Leparoux said. "The only thing I knew is that she put her head down at the wire and when it takes that much time to look at the photo you always hope for a dead-heat."

Albarado liked how I'm a Looker ran as she rallied from sixth early as 4-5 favorite Enchanting Lady completed a quarter mile in :21.26 and a half mile in :44.28 before fading to fifth.

"She ran super. I loved the pace up front and I had a really, really, really good trip," Albarado said. "She brought her patented run like she always does; you've got to time it good with her. She'd been training really well. She runs off her training, so she was doing really well. She looked good and she was alert in the post parade. She's a nice filly."

The six-furlong race for fillies and mares marked the stakes debut for John Oxley's Diva Express while Glenmare Farm's I'm a Looker previously finished third in last year's Lexus Raven Run Stakes (gr. II) at Keeneland and Azalea Stakes (gr. III) at Gulfstream Park. Diva Express is trained by Mark Casse and Patrick Dupuy conditions I'm a Looker.

"We're very excited about the win," said Casse assistant Norman Casse. "She's really trained well so I thought that she would run big and she did. We're really happy with the win and to share this race with the connections of the other horse. I was under the impression that we got beat but we got our nose down at the right time. It's great to finally get a stakes victory with her. We'll check her out in the morning, regroup and see where to go from here."

The dead-heat winners completed six furlongs in 1:09.49.

"She ran a great race and Robby rode a great race on her. He saved ground on her. I'm tickled to get the dead-heat. It looked like she won, but I'll take it," Dupuy said. "She's a nice filly. She trained great since the last race and she's never looked this good. Hopefully she's got one or two more in her like this."

Diva Express returned $6, $5.60, and $4.20 across the board while I'm a Looker paid $9.40, $7.40, and $4.80. Spelling Again finished third, paying $3.20 to show.

Bred in Kentucky by Martin Cherry, Diva Express is a daughter of Afleet Express  —Phi Beta Diva, by Mr. Greeley. I'm a Looker was bred in Kentucky by Emilie Gerlinde Fojan and Bona Terra Stud. She's a daughter of Henny Hughes—Our Mariella, by Victory Gallop.

Casse went to $260,000 to land Diva Express for Oxley at the 2014 Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. spring sale of 2-year-olds in training from the Eisaman Equine consignment. Chester Miller of Glenmare Farm landed I'm a Looker for $4,500 at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale from the Bona Terra Stud consignment.