Blowout leads a Brown-trained exacta in the G1 First Lady

Lexington, Ky.

In what world do bettors take a pass on a Chad Brown horse in a major turf race, especially on a day when he already pulled off a 15-1 upset?

And in what world do they not make a Brown horse the favorite in a race he has won every year since 2018?

That thumping heard Saturday afternoon was horseplayers kicking themselves again for not having Blowout (5-1) in the Grade 1, $400,000  First Lady Stakes at Keeneland. Not only did she win, she led at every call in the one-mile race and held on for a half-length victory. That gave Brown a First Lady four-peat and sent the 5-year-old by Dansili directly to the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

“I thought I was kind of the only speed in the race,” winning jockey Flavien Prat said. “As always she showed a lot of early speed. I was able to get out and relax down the backside and get a nice breather. Turning for home I didn’t know what to expect. I felt those horses coming at me. She actually lost the lead for a little bit, but she got really brave, dug in and got the job done.”

It was not just a first-place result for Brown. With Regal Glory (5-1) coming in second in a real fight to the finish with Blowout, he got the exacta. Brown would have been watching it all on TV, since he was in New York to see Rockemperor, the second-longest shot on the board, score a huge upset in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1).

Blowout’s contribution to Brown’s mantle was no small accomplishment. With 10 graded-stakes winners in the field of 12, this was a loaded group that she defeated for the first Grade 1 score of her career.

“I think it’s probably the best (division) in the country right now,” Prat said. “What she did was pretty amazing.”

Bettors may have discounted Blowout after she finished fourth under Joel Rosario facing the boys Aug. 14 in the Fourstardave Handicap (G1) at Saratoga. Before that, she began her 5-year-old campaign with a narrow, gate-to-wire season with Prat in the Distaff Turf Mile (G2) on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

Empress Josephine (11-1) finished one length behind in third, followed British shipper Althiqa (6-5). Saturday’s favorite had won her last two starts for Godolphin in U.S. Grade 1 races, but she got stuck in homestretch traffic under visiting jockey Jamie Spencer and finished fourth, 2 1/2 lengths up the track.

“We got in tight on a speed-favoring track,” Spencer said. “She ran a good race. We just needed a little more racing luck.”

Blowout’s winning time on turf rated good was 1:34.86. She established fractions of 23.76, 47.75, 1:11.67 and 1:23.16.

Bought as a weanling for $482,900 by Peter Brant, Blowout ran her record to 14: 5-7-1. Before this weekend she had not been listed in Bovada’s futures market for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, in which War Like Goddess was the 3-1 favorite. That figures to change next week.

Asked for his own assessment of Blowout in the Breeders’ Cup, Prat simply said, “We’ll see. We’ll see.”