Mrs McDougal Shows the Way in Noble Damsel

A change in tactics proved to be the winning decision for Mr. and Mrs. William Warren's Mrs McDougal Sept. 24 in the $200,000 Noble Damsel (gr. IIIT) at Belmont Park. 

For the first time since an allowance win in April of 2015, the 4-year-old Medaglia d'Oro filly led at every point of call under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. She set moderate fractions with an easy lead and held off a challenge from Chad Brown stablemate Zindaya to win by two lengths.

"There wasn't much speed in the race," Ortiz said. "I talked with trainer Chad Brown beforehand, and he gave me the green light, if the opportunity came up, to go to the lead. I think it was the right thing to do. She relaxed well and was there for me. She's a nice filly."

Mrs McDougal ran fractions of :24.42, :48.64, and 1:12.27 through six furlongs, then finished off the mile race in 1:34.99 on turf rated good.

It was her first graded stakes win since her score last year in the Lake George Stakes (gr. IIT) at Saratoga Race Course.

"There wasn't a lot of pace in the race and you have the favorite carving out the fractions," Brown said of Zindaya's attempt at an upset of her stablemate. "It's a lot to do but she finished real well. Both fillies are real quality fillies. A mile seems to fit both of them well and we'll try to keep both at that middle distance now."

Stormy Victoria completed the trifecta, another 2 1/2 lengths back. The winner paid $4.20, $2.70, and $2.10 across the board. Zindaya brought $4.10 and $2.60 and Stormy Victoria delivered $2.30 to show.

Bred by Aaron and Marie Jones in Kentucky, out of the Distorted Humor   mare Distorted Passion, Mrs McDougal now has a 5-0-2 record from 11 starts with $481,880 in earnings.