Venencia stays 1 1/2 miles to win Dowager at Keeneland
Making her first start for trainer Brendan Walsh, France-bred Venencia responded positively to Ben Curtis’s urging in the final furlong Sunday at Keeneland. She drew away and won the Grade 3, $350,000 Dowager Stakes for fillies and mares going 1 1/2 furlongs on yielding turf.
Sent forward to vie for the early lead with Cupids Crush (11-1), 5-year-old Venencia (7-1) proved the most resilient through early fractions of 25.92, 52.49, 1:16.98 and 1:42.82 after an 80-yard run-up.
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In the third of three turns, Cupids Crush faded, and John Velázquez brought South Africa-bred 6-year-old Bless My Stars (6-1) from third place into contention for the lead. Venencia maintained her advantage with a rail trip through 1 1/4 miles in 2:08.35.
As Bless My Stars ran her way into a head-to-head duel, Curtis went to the right-handed crop with Venencia, who put the race away and won by 2 3/4 lengths at a time of 2:35.69. She paid $17.76, $9.04 and $5.28.
“We had stamina, so the best thing was to test everyone else’s,” Curtis said. “I pushed forward, and once I got around the first turn, she relaxed on me again. I could ride my race from there and kick on nice and early. To be fair, Johnny came and headed me. His horse picked up well, but mine ground it out and came back in the last eighth and did it well.”
Bless My Stars held on for second and returned $8.28 and $5.36. Post-time favorite Vive Veuve (3-1), a 4-year-old who had been fifth in the field of nine, closed late to finish 2 1/2 more lengths back in third and pay $3.38 to show.
Venencia is owned by Bradley Thoroughbreds, Laura Leigh Stable, Jim Cone, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Team Hanley and Cambron Equine. By Recoletos out of Lemon Drop Kid mare Sign of Life, she bounced around this summer from Chad Brown in New York to Michael Doyle in Canada to Walsh in Kentucky.
“Since she came to us, she’s been working along nice,” said Walsh, who leads all trainers with nine wins during the Keeneland fall meet. “We didn’t do anything fancy at all. Just kept it simple, and it was a question of whether she’d stay or not and, of course, like the ground. It was all positive with her. She got the job done.”
Winless since her score in the Forever Together last fall at Aqueduct, Venencia had finished third or fourth in six of her next seven races, most recently coming home fourth for Doyle in the Singspiel (G3) going 1 3/8 miles on Sept. 6 at Woodbine.
With Sunday’s win Venencia ran her record to 14: 3-1-5. Adding the $147,250 on Sunday, she improved her career earnings to $373,817.
“It really moves up her value coming into the (Keeneland) November sale,” part-owner Peter Bradley said. “She is going to be a star on the day. She’s a beautiful filly. She’s got race left. It’s what you try to make happen.”