Keeneland/Coady Photography
Dayatthespa earned her second career Grade 1 victory over the Keeneland turf on Saturday with a powerful performance while facing a deep, well-matched field of fillies and mares in the one-mile, $400,000 First Lady Stakes.
Trained by Chad Brown for owners Jerry and Ronald Frankel, Steve Laymon and Bradley Thoroughbreds, Dayatthespa was starting for just the third time this year, but had put together strong back-to-back races at the Spa, finishing second to Filimbi in her seasonal debut on August 2 in the Fasig-Tipton De La Rose Stakes, and defeating fellow New York-bred Grade 1 winner Discreet Marq in the Yaddo Stakes on Saratoga Showcase Day on August 24. Filimbi and Discreet Marq were among the nine fillies and mares lined up for the First Lady.
Looking full of run from the bell, Dayatthespa (7-2 second choice) stalked pacesetter Istanford under a tight hold. On the far turn the chestnut targeted the leader, took over in upper stretch and then edged clear. She kept to business and opened up ultimately to a 1 1/4-length victory in a final time of 1:35.21 for a mile over the “good” turf. Click here for a clip of the race.
Jockey John Velazquez reported, “She broke really well and the other speed went to the front, so it worked well. I was just holding it together and when I let her go at the quarter pole, she was all fresh. She finished unbelievable – really, really good. She started to look around a little bit around the sixteenth pole, so I hit her one time to keep her mind running but she was doing really well.”
Velazquez also reported his instructions from the trainer at second hand. “[One of the owners] told me Chad said make sure to drop inside going into that first turn. He didn’t want to be three wide early.”
The 5-year-old mare, who will be offered at the Fasig-Tipton November sale, turned the tables on Better Lucky in the race, who prevailed by a head over her runner-up effort last year, and became a millionaire in the bargain after she increased her earnings to $1,188,892.
Dayatthespa now boasts a record of ten wins and four seconds in 17 starts. Her nine stakes victories are topped by a pair of Grade 1s at Keeneland, the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in 2012 in addition to the First Lady, the Grade 3 Appalachian Stakes also at Keeneland and Grade 3 Herecomesthebride. Dayatthespa was voted champion New York-bred 3-year-old female and turf female in 2012.
Bred by Castellare DiCracchiolo Stable, Cracchiolo & Goldsher and foaled at Empire Stud in Hudson, Dayatthespa was purchased by Sarazen Stable for $50,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York preferred yearling sale in 2010. Her dam M’Lady Doc, an unplaced daughter of Doc’s Leader, is a full sister to Phi Beta Doc, a Grade 3 winner and turf course record-setter at Saratoga and Colonial Downs ($442,815). M’Lady Doc’s half-brother Queen Mary’s Boy (Full Pocket) won a listed stakes.
M’Lady Doc has produced four winners from four starters, including New York-bred $126,140-earner Doc Can Do (Quiet American).
