With a sweeping move around the final of three turns in the 1 1/2-mile closing-day feature, Forever After All (Connect), currently in foal to Flightline, took over from a pair of embattled pacesetters and romped home by daylight in the GIII Bewitch Stakes at Keeneland.
Facing a scratched-down field over a course listed as yielding, the 9-5 favorite, a last-out fifth in the GIII The Very One Stakes at Gulfstream Mar. 1, let two rivals to her inside show the way for much of the running before making a confident, outside bid under Irad Ortiz, Jr. to win by nine lengths.
Forever After All broke through with a valuable first career stakes victory in the GIII La Prevoyante S. at Gulfstream Jan. 25.
“She's been improving all year,” winning trainer Brendan Walsh said. “It was great to see her do that. It's fantastic. It's great for Mr. (William) Shively and all the team at Dixiana, so it's great.”
Walsh continued, “She's actually in foal. She was bred about three or four weeks ago to Flightline, so we're going to have a limited rest of our time with her: one, maybe two more runs. We might try to pick out a race or two and maybe try to give her a shot at a Grade I if one fits somewhere along the line.”
Ortiz, Jr. added, “She's a big filly. She has a huge stride on her. I think these turns helped her a lot. She's been running at Gulfstream and the firm turf and tight turns (there) don't help her too much, but I think today she was very impressive. I just tried to stay close like Brendan told me before the race. She was close enough, I think, to get there. By the three-eighths pole, she started making her stride and she did the rest, to be honest.”
Pedigree Notes:
Forever After All, a half-sister to Grade I winner Tom's d'Etat (Smart Strike), is one of six graded winners for Connect. Broodmare sire Giant's Causeway is responsible for 118 graded/group winners worldwide. This is the extended family of Grade I winner and Argentine champion and sire Candy Ride (Arg).
Forever After All dominates in the G3 Bewitch at Keeneland for trainer @brenpwalsh with @iradortiz aboard! 🍀🏆
🎥 TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/iItMbfmI08
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) April 25, 2025
Friday, Keeneland
BEWITCH S. PRESENTED BY KEENELAND SALES-GIII, $319,500, Keeneland, 4-25, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/2mT, 2:35.56, yl.
1–FOREVER AFTER ALL, 120, m, 6, by Connect
1st Dam: Julia Tuttle (SW & GSP, $188,051),
by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Candy Cane (Arg), by Ride the Rails
3rd Dam: Candy Girl (Arg), by Candy Stripes
($290,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP). O/B-Dixiana Farms LLC (KY);
T-Brendan P. Walsh; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $211,575. Lifetime Record:
GISP, 24-4-10-2, $782,454. *1/2 to Tom's d'Etat (Smart Strike),
GISW, $1,762,272. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
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2–Youknownothing, 118, f, 4, Candy Ride (Arg)–Ygritte,
by Tapit. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($600,000 Ylg '22 FTSAUG). O-Robert S. Evans; B-2500
Determined Stud (MD); T-Christophe Clement. $48,750.
3–Immensitude (Fr), 118, m, 5, Lawman (Fr)–Ma Petite Poule
(Fr), by Elusive City. (€80,000 Ylg '21 ARQDOY). O-Wathnan
Racing; B-Isabelle Corbani (FR); T-William I. Mott. $24,375.
Margins: 9, 6 1/4, 3 3/4. Odds: 1.81, 15.40, 1.93.
Also Ran: Dazzlin' Dictator, Eternal Silence, Sabalenka, Sand and Sea. Scratched: Just Basking, Strikingly Spun.
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