© Reed Palmer

Friday, Churchill Downs
EIGHT BELLES S.-GIII, $110,000, CDX, 5-4, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:21 1/5 (NSR), ft.
1--#@CONTESTED, 118, f, 3, by Ghostzapper
1st Dam: Gold Vault, by Arch
2nd Dam: Questress, by Seeking the Gold
3rd Dam: Nahema, by Believe It
($110,000 yrl '10 KEESEP). O-Natalie J Baffert; B-Cherry Valley Farm, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Martin Garcia; $66,154. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $144,754. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.

2--Good Deed, 118, f, 3, Broken Vow--Hidden Assets, by Mt. Livermore. O/B-Bert, Elaine & Richard Klein (KY); T-Steve Margolis; $21,340.

3--Always Here Too, 118, f, 3, Include--Always Sure, by Lord At War (Arg). O-Pop-A-Top LLC; B-Popatop, LLC (KY); T-Thomas M Amoss; $10,670.

Margins: 4 3/4, 6 1/4, 2HF. Odds: 1.10, 3.10, 21.50.
Also Ran: Livi Makenzie, Xunlei, My Due Process, Small Kitchen, Volcat.
Click for the brisnet.com chart, the brisnet.com PPs or the video, sponsored by Taylor Made Sales.
   Contested ran second in her career opener at Del Mar. 3, but it's been nothing but win pictures since. Tabbed as a "TDN Rising Star" when she aired at Santa Anita by 6 1/2 lengths Oct. 2, the bay filly didn't face the starter again until Apr. 15. She drew off by 5 3/4 lengths in that Arcadia allowance, and was hammered at the windows here. Jill Baffert's filly conceded the early advantage to second-choice Good Deed, who whistled through a half in :44.37. Contested turned up the pressure in the stretch and quickly asserted herself, opening up despite racing a bit greenly. "I could tell by the way Martin [Garcia] was riding that he had a lot of confidence in this filly," said winning trainer Bob Baffert. "Being on the outside gave him a lot of options of what he could do and what he wanted to do." Contested was carrying the red-and-yellow colors of Mike Pegram. "It was a nice win even though they didn't have Jill's colors on," Baffert added. "They gave her the option of choosing some yellow-and-orange silks they had in the jock's room, and Mike Pegram's silks. So she said, 'Give me Mike's silks, they're pretty lucky.'"