Churchill Downs: Loved, Duvet Day score in holiday graded stakes

Loved grabbed the lead from Musical Mischief at the top of the stretch and opened a commanding lead to hold off 8-5 favorite Tarifa and easily win by 3 3/4 lengths Thursday in the 109th running of the Grade 3, $400,000 Falls City Stakes by 3 3/4 lengths.

Females bred and owned by Godolphin finished one-two in the traditional Thanksgiving feature at Churchill Downs.

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Trained by Brendan Walsh and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Loved ran 1 1/8 miles over a muddy track in 1:50.17 to collect her first graded-stakes win. In July the 5-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro won the black-type, $100,000 Mari Hulman George Memorial Handicap at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

“Brendan and his team really had her ready to go today,” Gaffalione said. “She’s been a nice filly throughout her career and put things together today to get a graded-stakes win.”

A late bloomer, Loved showed plenty of promise during her 4-year-old season with three consecutive victories by a combined 28 lengths in the first half of 2023. They included a maiden win and triumphs in first- and second-level allowance conditions. She finished fourth as the second betting choice in her stakes debut, the $500,000 Molly Pitcher (G3) at Monmouth Park in July 2023, her final start that year.

The Falls City was Loved’s fifth start this season.

“We were pretty confident with her coming into this race,” Walsh said. “She’s been training at Turfway and within the last three weeks really started to put things together. She was training and moving great in the mornings. We’re glad she was able to do that when it mattered today and become a graded-stakes winner.”

Breaking from post 6 in the field of eight fillies and mares, Loved raced between horses in fifth place up the backstretch. Enclosure had an uncontested lead with splits of 23.60, 47.41 and 1:11.76.

Loved moved into third nearing the second turn and was full of run. Musical Mischief, the winner of September’s $400,000 Locust Grove (G3), and Loved caught Enclosure midway around the turn, and then Loved dashed past Musical Mischief at the top of the stretch with a three-wide move. She took charge with a three-length lead in the stretch as three-time Grade 2-winning 3-year-old filly Tarifa chased to run a good second in her debut against elders.

“She ran a good race,” said Brad Cox, trainer of Tarifa. “She sat a good trip, but give credit to the winner who ran a big race and Godolphin, who owned the top two finishers.”

Loved paid $10.64, $4.78 and $3.12 as the 4-1 third betting choice. Tarifa, ridden by Flavien Prat, returned $3.46 and $3.12. It was another three lengths back in third to 25-1 long shot Lexa, who paid $7.04 to show under Gerardo Corrales.

Neon Icon, Enclosure, 9-5 second choice Musical Mischief, Peignoir and Quarto Y Vinte completed the order of finish.

With the Falls City win, Loved improved her record to five wins in 10 starts. Thursday’s $240,455 first prize jumped her earnings to $585,955.

Loved was bred in Kentucky by her owner. She is out of the Bernardini mare Velvety.

Duvet rallies to win Cardinal

Duvet Day, who raced in turf marathons in her previous 13 starts, relished a cutback in distance and used an explosive late kick in deep stretch to rally from the back and defeat 9-5 favorite She’s Lookin Lucky by three-quarters of a length in the 49th running of the $265,000 Cardinal (G3).

A 5-year-old mare owned by Jane Bacharach, William DeBurgh and Richard Schatz, Duvet Day ran 1 1/8 miles over firm turf in 1:48.79 to collect the first graded-stakes win of her career. Early in her 4-year-old season, Duvet Day won the listed, $100,000 Astra at Santa Anita over 1 1/2 miles on grass.

Prat, the leading U.S. jockey, rode the winner for trainer Michael McCarthy. It was his 78th stakes win of 2024, one shy of Irad Ortiz Jr.’s record of 79 in 2022. Prat’s 53rd graded-stakes triumph is two behind Jerry Bailey’s 2023 record of 55.

Breaking from post 3 in the field of 10 fillies and mares, Duvet Day raced in ninth up the backstretch. Dreaming of Mo led the way with fractions of 23.78, 48.00 and 1:12.00.

Leaving the second turn, She’s Lookin Lucky drew even with Dreaming of Mo while Duvet Day had only one horse beaten. Still in ninth with a little more than furlong to run, Prat tipped Duvet Day out to the five path, and the mare displayed a powerful late kick to collar She’s Lookin Lucky in the final yards.

“My plan was to be a little bit closer to the pace and not so far out of it,” Prat said, “but after we broke, we ended up being towards the back of the field. I got her to relax, and when I tipped her outside, she really found her best run.”

The triumph was worth $147,250 and increased her earnings to $420,538. Duvet Day boasts a record of 24: 4-5-4.

Duvet Day returned mutuels of $23.00, $8.94 and $5.54 as the 10-1 sixth betting choice. She’s Lookin Lucky, ridden by Florent Géroux, returned $3.84 and $3.20. Third-place finisher Queen Regent, under Frankie Dettori, was another three-quarters of a length back and paid $4.44 to show at odds of 6-1.

The order of finish was completed by Stir Crazy, Dreaming of Mo, Quality Star, Harvey’s Princess, Adrasteia, Implicated and Magical Lute. Heart Spin was scratched.

Before the Cardinal, Duvet Day finished seventh of 11 in the $296,738 Dowager (G3) at Keeneland over 1 1/2 miles on turf Oct. 20.

“She’s been a very nice mare and has some run top efforts in races much further than today,” said Justin Curran, McCarthy’s Kentucky assistant. “We knew she’d come with her run and really closed strongly down the center of the turf.”

Duvet Day, a daughter of Starspangledbanner out of Montjeu mare Je T’Adore, was bred in Ireland by John Yarr.