Mylady Curlin Edges Golden Award in Allaire DuPont Distaff

BALTIMORE, MD – Friday’s stakes action at Pimlico Race Course concluded with perhaps its most exciting stretch run when Sather Family’s homebred Mylady Curlin edged Golden Award after a prolonged duel to win the $150,000 Allaire DuPont Distaff Stakes (G3).

Breaking cleanly from post 4 under Luis Saez as the 3/1 second choice, Mylady Curlin cleared her inside foes as she passed the judges for the first time and sidled over to the rail before making the clubhouse turn. Golden Award sat just off of her right hip as she led through opening fractions of :24.23, :47.89, and 1:11.50. The two fillies began to separate themselves from the rest of the field midway through the far turn, and by the top of the stretch, it was a pure match race.

Golden Award moved up alongside the pacesetter at the 1/4 pole and the two fillies exerted every ounce of energy as they ran head to head, nose to nose. Stretching out at the wire, the Brad Cox-trained Mylady Curlin proved to be the best, crossing with a slim nose advantage in a final time of 1:47.64 for the 1 1/8-mile event over the fast main track.

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“She broke pretty well,” Saez said. “I was running pretty good – last time I rode her (in a Keeneland allowance race on April 25), she tried so much. Today, she had a clean break and was in the lead. And more distance, it was better, and when she came to the stretch, it was really a battle. I had the feeling I had it all the way. At one point, (Golden Award) got there, but I felt I had it.”

Gio Game took third, a well-beaten 5 lengths behind the top pair, and the rest of the field was similarly strung out. Another Broad took fourth over Isotope, while Timeless Curls and My Miss Lilly completed the order of finish.

Mylady Curlin’s win came in her stakes debut and improved her overall record to 10-5-2-1 with $301,903 earned after giving Sather Family its first-ever graded stakes win. The 4-year-old daughter of Curlin didn’t debut until last September, but since then has won at five separate tracks – Ellis Park, Churchill Downs, Oaklawn Park, Keeneland, and now Pimlico.

“We’ve liked her from the get-go,” Cox said. “She’s a nice filly. She ran a big race at Keeneland the other day. Even though it was a four-horse field, she had a wide trip. Luis rode her that day; the only thing I asked him to do (today) was to ask her to run away from there. I think having the lead and the rail was a nice place. I thought she fit well with these horses on paper. She got some good figures. The one thing I was concerned about was running her back a little quickly off the allowance race, but she was training well and looked good.”

Mylady Curlin returned $8.60 to win, $4 to place, and $3 to show. Golden Award brought back $3.80 to place and $2.60 to show, while Gio Game paid $3.60 to show.

Along with the purse money, Mylady Curlin’s connections won a breeding right to Dortmund for her at the end of her career, thanks to a donation from Dortmund’s former owner Kaleem Shah.