By Alan Carasso
Making her stakes debut and her first trip to the races in nearly four months, WinStar Farm homebred Kentucky Belle (Justify) was produced in upper stretch by Irad Ortiz, Jr. and finished full of run of all to cause a 10-1 upset in Friday's GII Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks.
Kentucky Belle jumped without incident from gate one, was eased back to the rear of the field and switched off nicely, as longshot Code (Tiz the Law) cut out the fractions in advance of Just Aloof (Justify), with Fitz Right (Charlatan) enjoying the best trip on the back of the pacesetter in third.
Positions were generally unchanged on the backstretch run and, going nicely in hand as the field hit the second turn, Kentucky Belle began to gain ground, angled away from the inside and was content to follow the move of favored Faithful Departed (Yoshida {Jpn}) for the run past the quarter pole.
Switched off that one's heels entering the final eighth of a mile, Kentucky Belle finished with a flourish and was along in the final few strides. Fitz Right held for third.
Third in a single appearance on the dirt to begin her career going a mile at Churchill last September, Kentucky Belle rounded out the triple in her turf debut at Keeneland the following month before returning to Louisville to graduate in her final juvenile appearance Nov. 29.
Kentucky Belle completed a Justify 1-2 behind future Wild Applause Stakes heroine To a Flame in a Mar. 7 allowance at Gulfstream and the dark bay was last seen dealing Bless Her (Twirling Candy) a nose defeat going this trip at the Lexington track on Apr. 18.
“We missed a little time with her, but it was worth the wait,” said winning trainer Brad Cox. “She ran big, obviously. It looked like she was traveling really well going into the far turn, and turning for home, I was like, 'this should work out, we're going to get some graded placing here.'
“She was able to get there, needed pretty much all of the mile and three sixteenths. I've always felt this was going to be her thing. Obviously, she ran this distance last time at Keeneland. We are very proud of the effort, obviously a well-bred filly and a big update for her.”
The conditioner indicated that the $2-million GIII Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 9 would likely be next for Kentucky Belle.
Pedigree Notes:
Kentucky Belle is the 66th worldwide stakes winner and 33rd graded scorer for Coolmore America's Justify. She is simultaneously the 93rd stakes winner and 39th graded winner out of a daughter of former WinStar inmate Tiznow. To date, Kentucky Belle is the only horse bred on the Justify/Tiznow cross.
The filly's dam, Dancing Fancy, is an 11-year-old daughter of Sovereign Award and Grade I winner Dancethruthedawn–herself a product of the outstanding champion Dance Smartly– and was purchased by the WinStar team for $310,000 in foal to Lookin At Lucky out of the broodmare dispersal of Sam-Son Farm at Keeneland January in 2021.
A $240,000 buyback out of the 2024 Keeneland September Sale, Kentucky Belle is the year-older half-sister to Energy Flows (Constitution), a $275,000 KEESEP grad who was a debut second in a Churchill maiden allowance June 13 ahead of a third-place effort in a sloppy local maiden July 18.
Dancing Fancy's two youngest produce include a yearling filly by Constitution and a colt from the third crop of Life Is Good foaled Apr. 15. The mare went back to Life Is Good this season.
Upset in the Saratoga Oaks!
KENTUCKY BELLE gets her first stakes win in the Grade 2 @FasigTiptonCo Saratoga Oaks at 10-1 under @iradortiz for trainer @bradcoxracing. pic.twitter.com/ElQE7rTPLN
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) August 7, 2026
Friday, Saratoga
FASIG-TIPTON SARATOGA OAKS-GII, $500,000, Saratoga, 8-7, 3yo, f, 1 3/16mT, 1:53.80, fm.
1–KENTUCKY BELLE, 124, f, 3, by Justify
1st Dam: Dancing Fancy, by Tiznow
2nd Dam: Dancethruthedawn, by Mr. Prospector
3rd Dam: Dance Smartly, by Danzig
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($240,000 RNA Ylg '24 KEESEP). O/B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.. $275,000. Lifetime Record: 6-3-1-2, $449,388. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Faithful Departed, 124, f, 3, Yoshida (Jpn)–Speed Seeker, by Heatseeker (Ire). O-Ferrogine, Frank, Rendina, Richard, Coniglio, Nick and Greywood Farms, LLC; B-Robert K. Johnson (KY); T-Grant T. Forster. $100,000.
3–Fitz Right, 124, f, 3, Charlatan–I'm a Looker, by Henny Hughes. ($200,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). O-Dubb, Michael, Lawrence, William H., The Elkstone Group, LLC (Stuart Grant) and Kisber, Michael E.; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $60,000.
Margins: HD, 1 1/4, 3 1/4. Odds: 10.60, 1.51, 3.26.
Also Ran: Bless Her, Imaginationthelady, Consensus View (GB), Just Aloof, Code.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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