Elate Lands First Win of 2019 in Fleur de Lis
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Photo: Coady Photography
Elate strides out to the wire in the Fleur de Lis Handicap at Churchill Downs
On an evening of high stakes and even higher expectations, Claiborne Farm and Adele B. Dilschneider's Elate left her competition in the dust June 15 in a hard-fought scramble to the wire to win the $250,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap presented by Budweiser (G2) at Churchill Downs.
The 8-5 favorite in Saturday's field of six older fillies and mares, Elate broke mid-pack under Jose Ortiz and was quickly boxed in by rivals on the rail in fourth as longshot Skeptic took the lead.
In command by a length through relatively slow fractions of :25.02, :49.70, and 1:13.85 for six furlongs, Skeptic was tracked closely to the outside by She's a Julie, who was in turn stalked along the backstretch by Blue Prize in third.
Fighting against jockey Javier Castellano's initial attempts to rate along the backstretch, Blue Prize was eventually shifted out three wide entering the far turn. Meanwhile, disentangling Elate from the traffic jam of competition on the rail, Ortiz guided his mount out four-wide to the outside of Blue Prize and asked his mare for more. Skeptic dropped back suddenly at the top of the lane and drifted to the rear just as She's a Julie managed to eke out a short-lived head lead.
Rallying late with the final furlong to run, Elate synced up with She's a Julie and Blue Prize in a fight to the wire and dueled three abreast for precious moments before Elate drove past on the far outside and cleared the leaders to win by 1 1/2 lengths.
Final time for the 1 1/8-mile dirt test was 1:50.33.
"It was a very good race," said Ortiz. "I saw Javier had a lot of horse with Blue Prize so I didn't want to make a premature move. Once she saw the clear she just cruised home."
Blue Prize finished second ahead of She's a Julie in third. It was another 7 1/4 lengths back to Go Google Yourself in fourth, followed by Auspicious Babe and Skeptic to complete the order of finish.
"She tried really hard today," said Castellano of Blue Prize. "I'm really satisfied by the way she ran. She fought all the way to the end. I don't want to take anything away from the winner. We hooked up with one of the best horses in the country and fought really hard for second place."
Part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, Elate's win in the Fleur de Lis earned her an automatic berth in the Nov. 2 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Santa Anita Park.
"Jose got the perfect rail trip and once he straightened her out in the lane she came running late," said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. "We thought the added distance makes a bit of difference with her and we like to have a goal to shoot for at the end of the year with the Breeders' Cup Distaff. If she belongs, that's a race to definitely shoot for."
A 5-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro , two-time grade 1 winner Elate has struggled a bit to find her stride in 2019. The mare finished second in the her season debut, the March 16 Azeri Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park, before running third next out in the April 14 Apple Blossom (G1) at the Arkansas track.
Elate earned her two grade 1 scores in 2017 when she took the Alabama Stakes (G1) and then went on to defeat older rivals by 8 1/4 lengths in the Beldame Stakes (G1). Despite battling chronic splint issues throughout most of her 15-start career, Elate has been a model of consistency. With the exception of her start in the Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1) during her sophomore campaign when she was pulled up after taking a bad step, the mare has never finished worse than fourth.
Bred in Kentucky by her owners, Elate is the first foal out of the Distorted Humor mare Cheery. She holds a 6-5-2 record in 15 starts and $1,698,775 in purse earnings.