Blowout Hangs on to Win Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile

LOUISVILLE, KY – Blowout built a huge early lead and then held off a host of challengers in deep stretch by a half-length to win the 36th running of the $500,000 Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (G2) for fillies and mares.

Trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Flavien Prat, Blowout covered the mile on a firm Matt Winn Turf Course in 1:36.30. It is the second win in the race for Brown who had scored with Roca Rojo in 2017.

“She was running so easy up front and I thought the times were not that fast, so I was very happy. Then when we came to the eighth pole, they all came after me and it looked like they might go by. But when she saw them, she regrouped and fired up again and we won it.” said winning jockey Flavien Pratt.

New York Girl, Zofelle, and Abscond completed the order. Morning line favorite Got Stormy finished 5th. Jakarta was a scratch in the Distaff Turf Mile.

This was the first graded stake win for Blowout. The 5-year-old daughter of Dansili improves her career record to 12-4-7-1 and has earned $718,600 for owner Peter M. Brant.

“She has a tendency to wait on horses and we preferred to have a target but when the 1 scratched she found herself on the lead. I thought Flavien did an excellent job settling her down, as you can see, she can be a little difficult to handle. I thought once they turned for home they were going to close in again and she was going to wait for horses but he said when she had the horses behind her, she kicked in again, thankfully. It’s very rare for me (to have a horse build a big lead), as you know a lot of my horses come from off the pace but we learned with this horse to let her do her thing and that’s where she wants to be. Mr. Brant was really determined to get a Grade 1 with her, it’s a wonderful family; he owns the mother. She was so close in the Matriarch and she did what Blowout does when she makes the lead, she waits on horses. A lot of her defeats are not due to fatigue it’s that she likes to wait on horses. She can be difficult; she wants to be forward, and she pulls, but she’s actually better with a target. And it’s hard to find two-turn races for her with a target because she’s so fast. She had it momentarily in the Matriarch but when she surged to the lead, she lost it and waited. I thought that might happen today turning for home; as easy as the fractions were for her, :48, you’d think she’d be gone, and sure enough they closed in on her because she will wait for horses. I thought they’d (the others) be a little closer than that. I was surprised with how far in front she was at one point. But guided by the fractions, looking at it, from a stamina point there was no issue. At that point it was mental. She’ll be heading to the Just a Game at Belmont next.” Said winning trainer Chad Brown.

Blowout returned $5.80 to win, $3.60 to place, and $2.80 to show.