Paid Up Subscriber Upends Fleur de Lis
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Paid Up Subscriber comes home strong to win the Fleur de Lis.
Klaravich Stables and Wiliam Lawrence’s Paid Up Subscriber pulled a monumental upset over champion filly Untapable in the June 18 Fleur de Lis Handicap (gr. II) at Churchill Downs. The 4-year-old Candy Ride filly covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.44, the second fastest running in the 41 editions of the stakes.
Trained by Al Stall, Paid Up Subscriber broke sharp under Ricardo Santana Jr., but ceded the early lead to 16-1 shot Big Book. Untapable was away slowly under Florent Geroux along the rail and was not at her customary start near the lead.
Big Book set fractions of :23.51, :47.82 while being pressed by 5-2 second choice Ahh Chocolate. Ahh Chocolate went for the lead heading into the turn and was engaged by Untapable through six furlongs in 1:12.39. It looked as if it might be a two-horse race, but the tandem was quickly inhaled by Paid Up Subscriber, who shot between horses in the stretch. Brooklynsway came with a wide move to get second, finishing two lengths ahead of late-running Engaginglee.
Untapable was fourth, with Ahh Chocolate fifth and Big Book finishing sixth.
The winner won an allowance optional claiming event going a mile under the Twin Spires May 6. In two previous stakes tries she was fourth in last year’s Prioress Stakes (gr. II) at Saratoga and ninth in Keeneland’s Raven Run Stakes (gr. II) in October.
Bred in Kentucky by Bruce Berenson and Laurie Berenson, she is out of the Street Cry mare Shriek.
"We’ve kept this filly in the highest regard; she’s had a little of this and little of that,” said Stall. “She’s finally getting it together. We gave her a nice little breeze (five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 June 12) and she’s come back on fire.
“We had a tremendous amount of confidence in her,” he said. “We just wanted to throw just one curve ball at her, which was her first two-turn race, so we decided to do it at home; just walk out of the barn.”
The winner paid $14.60, $7.60, $5.80. Brooklynsway paid $8.20 and $5.20, and Engaginglee returned $5.80. The $2 3-6 exacta paid $98.60.