Blue Prize Punches Breeders' Cup Ticket in Fleur de Lis

An affinity for Churchill Downs should serve Blue Prize well come November, and it came in handy June 16 as well.

On a surface where she's never been worse than second, Merriebelle Stable's daughter of Pure Prize employed a perfect stalk-and-pounce technique to win the $200,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap (G2), a Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" event for the Nov. 3 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at the Louisville track.

When multiple graded stakes winner Farrell set out for the early lead in the 1 1/8-mile test and put up a :23.97 quarter with Apologynotaccepted and Awestruck in pursuit, jockey Jose Ortiz had Blue Prize tucked in along the rail in fourth. The 5-year-old mare was third as a half went in :48.57, then was fanned five wide as her rider shifted her out off the turn after three-quarters in 1:12.45.

"She was in a good spot the whole way," Ortiz said. "She broke well and saved all the ground. When we passed the three-eighths pole, I started working to take her out, and I knew I had a lot of horse under me. She's very tactical. She can be close or she can be third, fourth, or fifth, just depending how fast they go in front of me."

While Farrell came off the turn with the advantage, Blue Prize reeled her in through a 1:37.14 mile and galloped clear to a 1 1/2-length win.

The final time was 1:50.02 on a fast track.

Favored at 2-1 in a nine-horse field, Blue Prize returned $6.60, $4.40, and $3. Farrell brought $7.60 and $5.80, and Mopotism, who finished three lengths back in third, brought $4.20. The order of finish was completed by Awestruck, Song of Spring, Valadorna, Fuhriously Kissed, Streamline, and Apologynotaccepted.

Trainer Ignacio Correas IV said the distance and the surface are right up Blue Prize's alley. The chestnut runner came off a second in the May 18 Allaire DuPont Distaff Stakes (G3) at Pimlico Race Course after winning the April 15 Top Flight Invitational Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack. At the end of her 4-year-old season, she took the Falls City Handicap (G2) at Churchill, her first win in North America. She won a group 1 in her native Argentina in 2016 before she was imported to the United States.

"There's no doubt that she loves Churchill, and we love that she loves Churchill, so we'll try to keep her around here and wait for the Breeders' Cup," the trainer said. "We know that she loves this place, and that is a little bit of an advantage to give us an edge. It's going to be a very tough race.

"She's very consistent when she goes a mile and an eighth or longer. She needs distance, that's all she needs."

Blue Prize was bred in Argentina by Bioart S.A. out of the Not for Sale mare Blues for Sale. She improved her record to 5-7-1 from 14 starts, with earnings of $605,233.

"She's improved since we got her from Argentina, and I think she's just getting better," Correas said.