Breeders' Cup winner Rushing Fall heads Keeneland's Appalachian field
E Five Racing Thoroughbreds’ undefeated Rushing Fall, winner of last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) at Del Mar, tops a field of 11 3-year-old fillies entered Thursday for Sunday’s 30th running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Appalachian.
The Appalachian, contested at a mile on the turf, will be the seventh race on Sunday’s nine-race program with a 4:24 p.m. ET post time. First post time every day is 1:05 p.m.
Trained by Chad Brown, Rushing Fall returns to Keeneland, where she dominated the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine (G3) by 3¼ lengths prior to winning the Breeders’ Cup.
Regular rider Javier Castellano will be aboard Sunday and break from post position two.
Two other fillies who won races at Keeneland last fall on the turf and have gone on to graded stakes success also are in the field.
Al Shahania Stud America, Great Point Stables, Michael Dubb, The Elkstone Group and Bethlehem Stables’ Thewayiam (FR) was an allowance winner here in October in her U.S. debut for trainer Graham Motion.
This year, Thewayiam has won all three of her starts with Grade 3 victories coming in the Sweetest Chant and Herecomesthebride at Gulfstream Park. Jose Ortiz has the mount on Thewayiam and will break from post position nine.
Susan and Jim Hill’s Daddy Is a Legend broke her maiden here in October and then closed her 2017 campaign with a victory in the Jimmy Durante (G3) at Del Mar in November.
Trained by George Weaver, Daddy Is a Legend will be ridden by Joe Bravo and break from post position one.
The field for the Appalachian, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Daddy Is a Legend (Bravo, 123 pounds), Rushing Fall (Castellano, 123), LoungeAct (Florent Geroux, 118), She’s Pretty Lucky (Corey Lanerie, 118), Cash Out (Brian Hernandez Jr., 120), Dixie Moon (Mike Smith, 120), HeavenlyLove (Julien Leparoux, 118), Ultima D (Julio Garcia, 118), Thewayiam (FR) (Ortiz, 123), Beach Waltz (Gaffalione, 118) and Goodthingstaketime (IRE)(Joel Rosario, 118).