Shamrock Rose pulled off the upset in the GII Lexus Raven Run S., scoring her first graded victory in Keeneland's Saturday feature. Breaking sharply from post 12, the 18-1 shot raced two-wide in mid-pack as Blamed blazed through opening splits of :22.27 and :44.83. Ranging up four wide turning for home, the $120,000 OBSAPR buy looked Blamed in the eye in mid-stretch for just a moment before confidently striding clear to win by 2 1/2 lengths. Blamed held second over a gutsy Take Charge Paula, who made an astounding late rally to hit the board. Rushing up into contention early, Take Charge Paula checked hard off heels in the first quarter, plummeting back towards the rear of the field, but made a strong late bid down the center of the track to round out the trifecta.
“Her last two races have been awesome,” said David Carroll, assistant to trainer Mark Casse. “She was full of confidence. She came to us [at Keeneland] in great shape. It was a great call by Mark and the Conrads [owners Manfred and Penny Conrad]–they are terrific owners, and we're so happy for them–to try this spot. It might have seemed ambitious, but when the filly's doing awesome … She just trained unbelievably well.”
He continued, “I told Tyler [Gaffalione] to just enjoy the ride. She's sitting on a big race. Whether that was good enough to win, we'd have to wait and see. It was.”
Shamrock Rose broke her maiden on debut in the Ontario Debutante S. on the Woodbine synthetic last September and was sixth behind Queen's Plate winner Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d'Oro) in last term's GIII Mazarine S. Off the board in her next two starts, she came running late to be second in the Cicada S. sprinting on the Aqueduct main track in March and was third in the Weber City Miss S. going 1 1/16 miles on the dirt at Laurel a month later. Romping by 10 1/4 lengths when returned to a synthetic surface at Presque Isle for the state-bred Malvern Rose S. Aug. 5, the sophomore wired the field for a 4 1/2-length success in the La Lorgnette S. going two turns on the Woodbine synthetic oval last time Sept. 8.
Pedigree Notes:
Shamrock Rose is out of the unraced Elusive Quality mare Slew's Quality, a half-sister to French MGSW Slew the Red (Red Ransom). The 14-year-old mare is also responsible for the unraced juvenile colt Quality Pitch (Bandbox) and a yearling colt by Stay Thirsty. She was bred back to Hard Spun earlier this term. Shamrock Rose, who is the fourth graded stakes winner for her sire First Dude, hails from the family of Hall of Famer Lady's Secret (Secretariat) and South African champion Mahbooba (Aus) (Galileo {Ire}).
Saturday, Keeneland
LEXUS RAVEN RUN S.-GII, $250,000, Keeneland, 10-20, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:22.98, ft.
1–SHAMROCK ROSE, 118, f, 3, by First Dude&log=">First Dude
1st Dam: Slew's Quality, by Elusive Quality
2nd Dam: Great Lady Slew, by Seattle Slew
3rd Dam: Great Lady Sharon, by Alydar
*1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($120,000 2yo '17 OBSAPR). O-Conrad Farms; B-Best A Luck Farm LLC (PA); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Tyler Gaffalione. $150,000. Lifetime Record: 9-4-2-1, $367,687. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Blamed, 118, f, 3, Blame–Salsa Star, by Giant's Causeway. ($77,000 RNA Ylg '16 KEESEP). O-Cleber J Massey; B-Sagamore Farm (MD); T-William I Mott. $50,000.
3–Take Charge Paula, 118, f, 3, Take Charge Indy–Perfect Paula, by Songandaprayer. ($40,000 Wlg '15 KEENOV; $47,000 RNA Ylg '16 KEESEP; $50,000 2yo '17 OBSMAR). O-Peter Deutsch; B-Extern Developments LTD (KY); T-Kiaran P McLaughlin. $25,000.
Margins: 2HF, 1HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 18.70, 9.70, 22.10.
Also Ran: Bronx Beauty, Everyonelovesjimmy, Amy's Challenge, Kelly's Humor, She's Pretty Lucky, Moonshine Memories, Chauncey, Divine Queen, True Royalty, Criminal Mischief, Alter Moon. Scratched: She's a Gypsy, Nootka Sound.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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