Golden Rod Loaded with Talent

Daddys Lil Darling is the lone graded stakes winner entered in the $200,000 Golden Rod Stakes (gr. II) for juvenile fillies at Churchill Downs Nov. 26, but she'll face plenty of competition.

Normandy Farm's homebred daughter of Scat Daddy is sure to be challenged by Dennis Farkas' Fun, who finished third behind Daddys Lil Darling in the Darley Alcibiades Stakes (gr. I) at Keeneland. In that race, Daddys Lil Darling finished second by a length to Dancing Rags before contesting the 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I), where she finished fourth.

Trainer Ken McPeek said Daddys Lil Darling came out of the Juvenile Fillies in good shape and said he sees the Golden Rod as an opportunity to enhance her résumé and perhaps earn a few points toward a starting spot in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) before she gets a winter break. The Golden Rod is part of the Road to the Kentucky Oaks that awards qualifying points of 10-4-2-1 to the top four finishers. Daddys Lil Darling currently ranks second on the Oaks leaderboard with 16 points.

"She is a tough filly and she has traveled well," McPeek said. "We're pleased at how well she's bounced back and expect her to do well back at her home course."

Daddys Lil Darling earned her stripes as a graded stakes winner Sept. 17, when she won the Pocahontas Stakes (gr. II) at Churchill. She was ridden then by Corey Lanerie, who will be aboard in the Golden Rod.

Fun, who is trained by Ian Wilkes, has been knocking on the door in graded company with a second-place finish in the Schuylerville Stakes (gr. III) at Saratoga Race Course and her third in the Alcibiades. She last worked four furlongs in :49 2/5 at Churchill Downs Nov. 20. The daughter of Harlan's Holiday was bred in Kentucky by Peter Blum Thoroughbreds.

Other competitors to watch in the 1 1/16-mile Golden Rod include the top three from the Oct. 30 Rags to Riches Stakes, run at a mile at Churchill. James Miller's Lovely Bernadette, a daughter of Wilburn  , won her third consecutive race in taking the Rags to Riches by half-length over China Grove and Farrell. The effort earned Lovely Bernadette an Equibase Speed Figure of 90, the third-highest earned by a horse in the field in her most recent start. The other top speed figures belong to Someday Soon (96) and My Sweet Stella (94).

One other to watch is Ever So Clever, Clearview Stable's daughter of Medaglia d'Oro  , who was second by a head in the Pocahontas and is coming into the Golden Rod off a 2 3/4-length win in an allowance race at Keeneland. She is trained by recent Hall of Fame inductee Steve Asmussen.