Dayatthespa Goes Distance in Appalachian
Jerry Frankel, Ronald Frankel, Steve Laymon and Bradley Thoroughbreds’ Dayatthespa took the lead out of the gate under Javier Castellano and never trailed in winning the 24th running of the $100,000 Appalachian presented by the Japan Racing Association (G3) for 3-year-old fillies by 2 ¾ lengths before a Thursday afternoon crowd of 12,466 at Keeneland.
Trained by Chad Brown, Dayatthespa led the field of nine through fractions of :23.70, :48.50 and 1:13 and had more than enough left to hold off a late bid from Somali Lemonade. Dayatthespa, a New York-bred daughter of City Zip out of the Doc’s Leader mare M’Lady Doc, ran the mile on a firm turf course in 1:36.08.
It was the second consecutive Grade 3 victory for Dayatthespa, who had taken the Herecomesthebride at Gulfstream Park in March. The victory was worth $60,000 and increased Dayatthespa’s bankroll to $274,892 with a record of 6-4-1-0.
Sent off as the favorite, Dayatthespa returned $4.60, $2.60 and $2.20. Somali Lemonade, ridden by Alex Solis, returned $3.20 and $2.40 and finished 1¼ lengths in front of Regalo Mia, who paid $3 to show under Jesus Castanon.
According to Trakus, Regalo Mia covered 57 feet more than Dayatthespa, a figure that equates to approximately 6 ¾ lengths of added ground.
Firehouse Red finished another 1¾ lengths back in fourth and was followed in order by Dream Pegasus, Lemon Splendor, Biogio’s Gift and Little Sadie, and Andrew’s Girl, who did not finish.