Lady Aurelia's sister romps in Keeneland debut; on to Ascot?

Lady Pauline, the half-sister of the recently retired star sprinter Lady Aurelia, made the family proud Friday when posting a 9 3/4-length debut victory in Keeneland's second race.

For the familiar connections of Stonestreet Stables, trainer Wesley Ward and jockey John Velazquez, it should mean a return trip to Royal Ascot's Queen Mary Stakes (G2) won by Lady Aurelia with ease in 2016.

"I thought, 'We're off to the races again,'" Stonestreet's Barbara Banke, who named the filly after her 90-year-old mother, told TVG. "We're going back to England."

A daughter of Munnings, Lady Pauline broke on top in the 4 1/2-furlong dirt sprint, as Ward juveniles are wont to do, and cruised through an opening quarter mile in 22.76 seconds.

She was never quite headed by the chasing Kolten's Court and Thirsty Junior, who raced up through the turn only to see Lady Pauline burst away down the stretch.

"If she can come back and run the way she ran today, she'll be just as much as Lady Aurelia was," Velazquez told TVG. "You've got to keep your fingers crossed she can stay healthy and keep improving from here. Very, very impressive."

The final time was 51.71 seconds.

After trouncing her competition in the Queen Mary, Lady Aurelia returned to Royal Ascot the next year to defeat older males in the King’s Stand (G1). She became the first U.S.-based horse to win a European championship known as the Cartier Awards in the process.

"It's hard to come up with something that good," Banke said in November. "And in the horse business we're all about hope. We're all about the future. We're all about breeding for future champions, so if we can do that again, it'd be really awesome."

Similar to her little sister, Lady Aurelia won on debut at Keeneland before heading overseas, with her victory on April 21, 2016.