Blue Prize aiming to defend title in Churchill Downs' Fleur de Lis

Four-time graded stakes winner Blue Prize will look to defend one of her titles June 15 on a busy night at Churchill Downs.

The 6-year-old mare is probable for the Grade 2, $250,000 Fleur de Lis, trainer Ignacio Correas said. Blue Prize won that event last June by 1 ½ lengths over second-place Farrell.

The Fleur de Lis is a “Win and You’re In” event for the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, scheduled for November at Santa Anita Park. The race is contested over 1 1/8 miles on the main track and is for fillies and mares, 3 years and up.

The Fleur de Lis was one of three graded stakes triumphs for Blue Prize during her 5-year-old season. She went on to post wins in September at Churchill’s Locust Grove Stakes (G3) and one month later in the Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.

Blue Prize also collected a Grade 2 win at 4 in the 2017 Falls City Handicap at Churchill Downs.

Over her career, Blue Prize has posted seven wins in 18 starts and earned $1,112,753.

Owned by Merribelle Stables LLC, the Argentinian-bred daughter of Pure Prize is taking one step down in company after three straight Grade 1 starts.

After her win in Keeneland’s Spinster, Blue Prize came up fourth last November in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff and then third on Kentucky Oaks day in the La Troienne Stakes. Both those starts came at Churchill Downs, where she’ll make her return to the starting gate June 15.

The Fleur de Lis is one of five graded stakes scheduled for that evening in Louisville. Also on the docket are the $150,000 Matt Winn Stakes (G3), $150,000 Regret Stakes (G3), $250,000 Wise Dan Stakes (G2) and the night’s showcase, the $600,000 Stephen Foster (G2).