Good Cheer looks to remain perfect in G1 DK Horse Acorn

Godolphin’s undefeated Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks heroine Good Cheer will look to maintain a flawless ledger as she takes on six rivals in Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 DK Horse Acorn, a nine-furlong route for sophomore fillies, at the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

The Acorn [Race 11] is one of six stakes on the Friday program, which features three other Grade 1s in the $750,000 New York presented by Rivers Casino [Race 12], the $500,000 Just a Game presented by Resolute Racing [Race 13] and the $500,000 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford [Race 9] – a “Win and You’re In” for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff in November at Del Mar. First post for the 14-race program, which also hosts the Grade 2, $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup in Race 10 and the Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o’ Roses in Race 6, is 11:40 a.m. Eastern.

Good Cheer, trained by two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox through her seven perfect starts, has been making her Acorn preparations at Churchill Downs, where Godolphin USA’s Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan said the filly is thriving.

“She’s in great shape and came out of the Kentucky Oaks very well. Her works have been excellent leading up to the Acorn and it seems like she’s getting even better,” Banahan said. “We’re just enjoying the ride and she’s a special filly. The longer they stay undefeated, a little more pressure comes on to keep that streak going.”

Good Cheer looks to keep her momentum rolling off a dominant 2 1/4-length triumph in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 2 at Churchill Downs, rallying from farther back than ever before in her career as she tracked in eighth-of-13 through the half-mile in 46.78 seconds over the wet-fast and sealed footing. With a five-wide move in the turn under Luis Saez, Good Cheer swept past her rivals as she stormed down the lane to notch her seventh consecutive victory in a final time of 1:50.15.

Banahan praised the smart ride by Saez to keep Good Cheer wide around any trouble from post 10-of-13.

“She didn’t have the perfect draw, and Luis probably did the right thing keeping her out of any opportunity to get in trouble,” Banahan said. “She was a little wide and further back, but she’s very adaptable and Luis knows her so well. He knew what he had underneath him. I think we’ve seen enough races from her that we can be confident that wherever he puts her, it’s probably the right spot to be in.”

Just one day after the Kentucky Oaks, Godolphin claimed the garland of roses in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby with Sovereignty, who is targeting the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 7 here.

Banahan said the win was especially meaningful to share with the dedicated staff members of Godolphin’s three Kentucky facilities, each within 100 miles of Churchill Downs.

“It was a very special weekend,” Banahan said. “It was something that hadn’t been done in over 70 years for the same [owner] to win the Oaks and the Derby, and that tells you how difficult it is to do it. It was a phenomenal weekend, and it makes it extra special that it was at a local track with a lot of people that work for us at the farm that were able to get to the races and enjoy that experience and get involved. It’s hard to duplicate that again.”

The Oaks marked the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro’s first top-level triumph, and came on the heels of a tremendous winter at Fair Grounds Race Course that saw her win the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra in February and Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks in March. The latter effort, as well as her Oaks victory, was awarded a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure.

Good Cheer, whose sparkling campaign includes a 17-length allowance trouncing and stakes wins in the Listed Rags to Riches and Grade 2 Golden Rod at Churchill as a juvenile, is out of the multiple graded stakes-winning Street Sense mare Wedding Toast, who also produced stakes-winner Ya Hayati.

“Every time she goes to the racetrack, she improves,” Banahan said. “From last year as a 2-year-old to go from winning the allowance, to a listed stake, to the Golden Rod, she just makes those incremental improvements all the time. She does everything we ask her to do and comes out on the right side. It’s been fun having her in the stable – she’s a very uncomplicated filly, very professional and does everything that Brad wants her to do.”

Luis Saez, aboard for her last six starts, will guide Good Cheer from post 2 as Godolphin searches for their third Acorn victory in four years [Matareya in 2022, Pretty Mischievous in 2023].

Also exiting the May 2 card at Churchill is Reddam Racing’s Look Forward [post 6, Umberto Rispoli], who stretches out from a prominent 1 1/4-length score in the seven-furlong Grade 2 Eight Belles.

Trained by Michael McCarthy, the Bolt d’Oro filly pounced from third to land the breakthrough victory over Blue Fire in a final time of 1:22.36. The win was her third career trip to the winner’s circle, with all three efforts coming at sprint distances. Her three efforts going a route of ground yielded a runner-up finish in the Listed Santa Ynez, and a respective seventh and sixth in the Grade 3 Honeybee at Oaklawn Park and Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland, each going 1 1/16 miles.

“She looks like she’s doing well,” McCarthy said. “The mile and an eighth is a bit of an unknown territory with us for her. I’m sure she will find herself somewhere close to the lead or on the lead. She will be forwardly placed.”

McCarthy said he was pleased with the Eight Belles effort as the filly now prepares for a return to two-turns in the Acorn, which was previously contested at 1 1/16 miles around one-turn at Belmont Park.

“I thought she was very good. A very gutsy performance,” McCarthy said. “I had been waiting to cut her back for a while, so it was great to see a performance like that and have her win a big one Derby week. This is like the same thing, the Acorn is very prestigious in its own right. This is a different configuration, different distance [than Belmont], so we will see.”

Tracy Farmer’s Grade 1-winning homebred La Cara will face off with Good Cheer again after a ninth in the Kentucky Oaks with a pressured pacesetting trip under returning rider Dylan Davis [post 3].

“She loves what she's doing,” said Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. “She's very professional. She's a racehorse.”

La Cara was a pacesetting winner of the Grade 1 Ashland in April at Keeneland, securing her spot in the Oaks where she again set the tempo with pressure from the Bob Baffert-trained Tenma [fourth] before weakening in the final turn to finish 13 lengths behind Good Cheer.

Casse said he expects La Cara to again be forwardly placed.

“It doesn't hurt her [being up front]. She likes to be on the lead,” Casse said. “I was surprised Bob's filly ran with her early in the Oaks and actually stayed around better than we did. If she'd laid off us a little bit, I'm not sure we would have run a whole lot better but I thought Bob's filly gave a big effort.”

Casse went on to saddle Grade 1 Arkansas Derby-winner Sandman to a seventh-place finish in the Kentucky Derby over a sloppy and sealed track, but the colt returned two weeks later to run a respectable third in the Grade 1 Preakness.

“We saw with Sandman that he didn't run well in the mud [in the Derby] and everyone wanted to dismiss him, but he came back with a good effort,” Casse said. “I'm hoping the same happens for La Cara.”

Sportsmen Stable, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Photos Finish, Corms Racing Stable and trainer Jorge Abreu's Grade 1-winner Scottish Lassie will vie to improve off a third in her seasonal debut in a one-turn mile optional claimer on May 1 at Belmont at the Big A.

There, she broke awkwardly and had trouble finding her footing before rushing into contention to duel head-to-head for the lead. She weakened in the lane and finished three lengths behind the victorious Cassiar.

Scottish Lassie graduated in style last year with a nine-length romp in the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont at the Big A, which awarded her a berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies where she finished an even fourth.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. rides from post 1.

Completing the field are Oaks third-place finisher Bless the Broken [post 5, John Velazquez] for trainer Will Walden; the 2-for-3 Shred the Gnar [post 4, Jose Ortiz] for trainer Brian Lynch; and Grade 1-placed Quickick [post 7, Flavien Prat] for conditioner Tom Amoss. 

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/event-info/tv-schedule. 

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, and the best way to bet every race of the four-day meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.