Better Lucky Attempts First Lady Repeat

Godolphin Racing’s Better Lucky will attempt to become the first repeat winner of Keeneland’s $400,000 First Lady (G1) on Saturday when she faces eight rivals in the 17th running of the one-mile grass test.

The First Lady will go as the seventh race on Saturday’s 10-race program with a 4:35 p.m. ET post time.

Trained by Tom Albertrani, Better Lucky prevailed by a head over Dayatthespa in last year’s First Lady. The First Lady will mark the return to grass for Better Lucky, whose most recent turf effort was a troubled eighth in the Just a Game (G1) at Belmont on June 7.

Mike Smith will ride Better Lucky and break from post position five.

Better Lucky is one of five Grade 1 winners in the field that also includes Dayatthespa, who won the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) here for trainer Chad Brown. John Velazquez will be aboard Saturday and break from post position seven.

Other Grade 1 winners in the field are Centre Court, winner of the 2013 Jenny Wiley; Discreet Marq, winner of the 2013 Del Mar Oaks; and Somali Lemonade, winner of this year’s Diana.

The field for the First Lady, from the inside out, is: Filimbi (Joel Rosario, 124 pounds), Kitten’s Point (Edgar Prado, 124), Sassy Kitten (Rosie Napravnik (124), Istanford (Robby Albarado, 121), Better Lucky (Smith, 124), Discreet Marq (James Graham, 124), Dayatthespa (Velazquez, 124), Somali Lemonade (Luis Saez, 124) and Centre Court (Julien Leparoux, 124).

Source: Keeneland