Better Lucky will be looking to defend her title as she squares off against eight fillies and mares going one mile on the Keeneland turf Oct. 4 in the $400,000 First Lady Stakes.
The race, the seventh on the card Saturday, has a 4:35 p.m. EDT scheduled post time.
Godolphin's Better Lucky won the First Lady by a head last year over a yielding course. After weeks of dry weather, the Lexington area is expected to see plenty of rain in the 24 hours leading up to its Oct. 4 card. The 5-year-old Ghostzapper mare ran back at Keeneland in the Madison Stakes on Polytrack last spring and finished second.
She won the Shine Again Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in July for trainer Tom Albertrani but was most recently a well-beaten fourth in the Ballerina Stakes at the Spa. She has been in the money in all three of her starts on the Keeneland turf. Mike Smith takes the call from post 5.
FIRST LADY STAKES DRAW
Dayatthespa finished a tough second to Better Lucky in last year's First Lady. The speedy 5-year-old City Zip mare likes to do her running on the front end, and was a wire-to-wire victor of the Yaddo Stakes at Saratoga last out, her second straight win in that event for trainer Chad Brown. Dayatthespa took her other two tries on the Keeneland lawn including the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup.
Somali Lemonade, winner of the Diana Stakes two starts back, failed to fire in the Beverly D. in August but has won two of her four lifetime starts at Keeneland.
Centre Court, who drew the outsid post in the First Lady, backed up to finish fourth after prompting the pace in the Ballston Spa Stakes at Saratoga last out. She won the Honey Fox Stakes at Gulfstream Park last spring and has run first or second in three of four starts at Keeneland.
Discreet Marq also figures to be prominently placed early. She has been competitive in grade I events from coast-to-coast, but her last victory came a year ago in the Pebbles Stakes at Belmont Park. She finished second in the Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland last spring and should benefit in the cutback to a mile.
Istanford has won three of her last four starts, including a victory in the San Clemente Handicap at Del Mar in July. Yet another front-runner, Istanford won the Sandy Blue Handicap at Del Mar in her last outing. The only 3-year-old in the field, she gets three pounds from each of her rivals while packing 121.
No turf race would be complete without a couple of kittens.
Sassy Kitten flashed speed in winning the River Cities Stakes at Louisiana Downs last month. Her worst race came a year ago at Keeneland when she was 11th of 12 in an allowance tilt. Kitten's Point is one who could benefit from all the speed signed up here, as the closer has shown a nice late kick in many of her races. She has been off since not firing in the Jenny Wiley last spring. Two years ago she missed in the Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland by a nose.
Filimbi won the De La Rose Stakes at Saratoga in August but came up empty in the Ballston Spa and finished sixth. She also should be moving late in the First Lady.