Choisya gets charmed inside run, survives objection in Jenny Wiley

After foiling a pair of Godolphin hotpots in her Group 2 double during the Dubai Carnival, British shipper Choisya ended trainer Chad Brown’s streak in Saturday’s $521,657 Jenny Wiley (G1) at Keeneland. 

Brown, who had won the turf feature for the past three years in a row, and seven times overall, sent out 3-1 favorite Excellent Truth in a bid to extend his record. But the 6.83-1 Choisya, well placed early by Luis Saez, got first run with a dream opening on the rail. Excellent Truth tried to rally outside Choisya, found the door closed, and once altering course back inside, the favorite came up a half-length short.

Trained by Simon Crisford for owner/breeder Rabbah Bloodstock, Choisya had to sweat out an objection lodged by Excellent Truth’s rider, Flavien Prat. The stewards reviewed her checkered stretch passage but allowed the result to stand.

Choisya maintained her sparkling form from Dubai, where she reached new career highs when turning the Cape Verdi (G2)/Balanchine (G2) double. She stole the Cape Verdi on the front end, drubbing odds-on Romantic Style by five lengths, and in the Balanchine, she fended off an even heavier favorite in Cinderella’s Dream. Considering the latter’s stateside resume, including her near-miss in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), Choisya figured to stack up class-wise in her Grade 1 debut.

Saez was a good fit for her tactical style as well, ensuring that Choisya was in touch with the pace. The daughter of Night of Thunder settled into an inside stalking trip in third.

“She broke pretty well,” Saez noted. “She broke on top, but we knew the speed was going to go from the outside (Kehoe Beach), so we waited into the first turn and tucked in behind. It was the perfect spot we were looking for.”

Up front, free-wheeling Kehoe Beach rattled off fractions of :22.98, :46.95, and 1:11.33 on a course listed as good. She raced a few paths off the fence, however, and that left a yawning gap for Choisya. 

Cutting the corner turning for home, Choisya seized command down the lane. A resilient Kehoe Beach tried to counterattack. 

Meanwhile, Excellent Truth was herself drafting on the inside, and she arguably had room for a rail rally. Instead, she angled out in hopes of splitting Choisya and Kehoe Beach. Then Choisya drifted out, and the seam was gone. Excellent Truth had to tap on the brakes and dive back to the inside. She regained some momentum to reduce the margin late and galloped out past Choisya after the wire.

Prat claimed foul against Saez for the trouble.

“I was behind the winner,” Prat recapped, “and we turned for home and he (Saez) stayed on the fence, so then I decided to come around him. I had a good gap, and as I came in between horses, the gap closed and I had to check, and she came back again.”

Saez admitted that Choisya didn’t keep a perfectly straight course, but made his case that it wasn’t material to the result.

“I knew when I got to the top of the stretch I came out a little bit,” the winning rider said, “but I don’t think I bothered the other horse (Excellent Truth). I stayed in my lane. She ran a big race and I’m so proud (Crisford and owner Rabbah Bloodstock) gave me the opportunity with this filly to win this Grade 1.”

Kehoe Beach’s rider, Frankie Dettori, believed that she would have preferred a firmer course.

“I had the position that I wanted in front; she was relaxed in front,” Dettori said. “Everything’s been winning off the fence today, so I went out off the fence. Usually she can quicken off fast ground. She was trying for me, but the wheels were spinning on that ground and she couldn’t accelerate as she does. But it was a great run for first time on top level, and I haven’t lost faith in her.”

Sacred Wish ran fairly evenly in fourth. Next came Poolside with Slim; the other British invader, Jabaara, who never threatened after being wrangled back early; No Show Sammy Jo; and pace-tracking Be Your Best. Vina Arana was scratched.

Choisya negotiated 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.01 and returned $15.66. The five-year-old has compiled a record of 20-8-5-0 with earnings of approximately $709,409. She scored her first stakes laurel in the Dick Hern S. at Haydock last August, but failed to land a blow in the Atalanta (G3) and Sceptre (G3). Wintering in Dubai was the making of her. 

The British-bred is a half-sister to multiple stakes victress and Group 3-placed Pelerin. Both are out of the stakes-placed Singspiel mare Fragrancy, from the family of Grade/Group 1 winner Hibaayeb and her daughter, 2017 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf queen Wuheida. Further back, this maternal line is responsible for the historic Oh So Sharp, who beat males in the 1985 St Leger to complete a sweep of the Fillies’ Triple Crown.