Aunt Pearl bled when failing as 1-5 favorite in Edgewood

As an undefeated Breeders' Cup winner, Aunt Pearl was hammered down to 1-5 favoritism in Friday's Edgewood Stakes (G2) for 3-year-old turf fillies at Churchill Downs. She led every step of the way into mid-stretch and looked well on her way to improving to 4-for-4. 

But then, in the final sprint for the wire, Aunt Pearl started to falter and quickly faded to fifth under Florent Geroux. The reason for the poor effort became clear in a post-race tweet from the connections. 

Aunt Pearl bled internally, a result of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. EIPH is a condition that for decades has been treated by the diuretic furosemide, which is commonly known by its brand name Lasix. However, starting last year, Lasix was banned from all 2-year-old races in many jurisdictions across the U.S. This year, the ban was extended to include graded-stakes races. 

As a 2-year-old of 2020, Aunt Pearl had made all three previous starts without Lasix and without incident for trainer Brad Cox. She was a debut winner last September at Churchill Downs and came back to win the Jessamine (G2) at Keeneland before scoring in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf to complete a perfect campaign. 

The Edgewood was won by Gift List, who paid $10.80 as the second-choice in the field.