Angel Terrace Opens Year in Bewitch
With the likes of 2013 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) runner-up and Group 1 winner Romantica (G3), multiple Grade 3 stakes winner Inimitable Romanee, Group 1 winner Viva Rafaelz (BRZ) and Grade 2 winner Caroline Thomas, today’s $150,000 Bewitch (G3) features an accomplished field of 12 fillies and mares racing 1½ miles on turf. But only one of them has a stakes win on Keeneland’s turf course. She is Augustin Stable’s Angel Terrace, winner of the Pin Oak Valley View (G3) during Keeneland’s 2012 Fall Meet.
The Bewitch marks the 2014 debut for Angel Terrace, a 5-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper who last raced at Keeneland in October 2013 and was third in the Rood & Riddle Dowager at the Bewitch’s distance of 1½ miles.
“The races are always tough at Keeneland, but for a Grade 3, it’s about as tough as it gets,” trainer Jonathan Sheppard said about today’s stakes.
Julien Leparoux, the leading rider with 18 wins entering Thursday’s card, will ride Angel Terrace and break from post eight.
Angel Terrace is a homebred racing for George Strawbridge Jr.’s Augustin Stable. The Augustin-Sheppard-Leparoux team won the Bewitch in 2009 with Winter View.
DIXIANA FARM RECOGNIZES GROOMS ON CLOSING DAY
William J. Shively’s Dixiana Farm has become the sponsor of the 29th Elkhorn (G2), the traditional closing-day feature of Keeneland’s Spring Meet. The purse for Friday’s race was increased $100,000, to $250,000, but the prizes that day aren’t limited to racehorse owners.
Dixiana is sponsoring a “Best Turned Out Award” that will recognize a groom with a horse competing in the Mata Hari (sixth race), the Tower Hill (eighth race) and the Dixiana Elkhorn (ninth race). In the Paddock prior to each race, a representative from Dixiana Farm will judge the horses on their appearance, including the cleanliness of their tack, and on the appearance of their grooms. The groom selected for presenting the best turned-out racehorse in each race will receive $500.
Dixiana also is the sponsor of the Dixiana Bourbon (G3) on Sunday, Oct. 5, during Fall Stars Weekend.