Keeneland: Chad Brown duo headline Saturday's Jenny Wiley
Peter Brant’s In Italian, winner of last fall’s Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland and then runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, and his Speak of the Devil, winner of the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (G2), headline a field of nine fillies and mares entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 35th running of the Jenny Wiley (G1) at Keeneland.
The 1 1/16-mile grass test is scheduled as the 10th race on Saturday’s 11-race program with a 5:48 p.m. EDT post time. First post Saturday is 1 p.m.
In Italian and Speak of the Devil both are trained by Chad Brown, who won last year’s race with Brant’s eventual champion Regal Glory. Brown has won four of the last five renewals of the Jenny Wiley and five overall, beginning with Ball Dancing in 2015. His other winners were Brant’s champion Sistercharlie in 2018 and champion Rushing Fall in 2019 and 2020.
Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount on In Italian and will break from post position 2 in her 2023 debut.
Speak of the Devil, fifth in the Honey Fox (G3) in her 2023 debut last month, will exit post position 4 under Flavien Prat.
Two other Grade 1 winners are in the field: Pizza Bianca and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Queen Goddess.
Trained by Christophe Clement, Pizza Bianca will be making her initial start of 2023. Pizza Bianca won the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar and will be ridden Saturday by Jose Ortiz. They will break from post position 1.
Queen Goddess, trained by Michael McCarthy, invades from California with four graded-stakes victories on a resume highlighted by the 2021 American Oaks (G1) at Santa Anita. Winner of the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational (G3) in her most recent start, Queen Goddess will exit post position 3 and be ridden by Luis Saez.
Adding an international flavor to the race is Godolphin’s With The Moonlight.
Trained by Charlie Appleby, With The Moonlight is a two-time Group 2 winner in Dubai this year. Last year, she won the Saratoga Oaks Invitational (G3) and was runner-up in the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1) and Lake Placid (G2).
William Buick has the mount and will break from post position 5.