First Lady – GI

$800.00 For Fillies And Mares Three Years Old And Upward – 1 Mile – Turf
Keeneland – October 3, 2026

A top notch field of eight fillies and mares will assemble at Keeneland on Saturday for the twenty-second running of the G1 First Lady. The field will include last year’s winner Beach Towel who is having a stellar season. Beach Towel is the type of mare that will scare off some competition but a G1 with an $800.00 purse will encourage bravery and bring out some challengers. Let’s look at who has come forward.

1. Ruths House (TwinTowersRacing/S.X. Bridgmohan) She has won almost $700.00 in her career and you don’t do that without talent however she has yet to find the winner’s circle this season in six starts. The good news is that her best start this year was her last when she placed third in the G1 Taylor after briefly getting to the lead. The cut back to a mile may help.

2. Dianas Fury (D J C Racing Stables/F. Pennington) She won the NY bred Mt Vernon at Saratoga in June. If the G1 Taylor offers some encouragement for Ruths House on the rail it offers a little bit less for Dianas Fury who finished seventh in that same race. The mile may also suit her better.

3. Memphis Reins (Williams9/L. Saez) Five year old mare has put in consistently good runs this year which is reflected by her six on the board finishes in eight starts. She was a good third in both the G3 Royal North Stakes and the G2 Nassau Stakes before running a disappointing eleventh in the G2 KD Ladies Turf in her last start. Expect a better showing than that. 

4. Poetic Panther (Maletto/J.R. Velasquez) A titan in any field she is in. She has added two more G1s to her collection this season including completing a threepeat in the G1 Diana at Saratoga where she finished a length ahead of Beach Towel. A win would put her over the $6,000 mark in career earnings. Obviously a top contender.

5. State Title (Mb Stables/R. Santana Jr.) Three year old is tackling older for the first time. She is a G1 winner this season having won the G1 Belmont Oaks at Saratoga in July. Her two races since then have been disappointing off the board finishes. Those races were at longer distances and the mile may be a welcome change.

6. Beach Towel (Winning Link Stables/B. Curtis) She has not been off the board in seven 2026 races including three wins and three seconds. She was a length behind Poetic Panther in the G1 Diana in July but then she turned the tables on that rival in their last race when she won the G2 KD Ladies Turf at the First Lady mile distance. She has won over $2,000 this season alone and chances are good she will add to that on Saturday.

7. Look At The Horizon (Patterson Stables/P.A. Valenzuela) She was claimed for a modest $7.50 in July. In her one and only start for her new barn she finished a very good closing second in the G1 Taylor Stakes at Woodbine just a few weeks ago. Will be interesting to see if she can continue her rags to riches climb and maintain that Taylor form. 

8. Terrifiant Sunset (Mb Stables/P. Lopez) The second entrant from Mb Stables finished in between Beach Towel and Poetic Panther in the G2 KD Ladies Turf. That was the last start for all three and they will carry equal weights again so there is no reason to think a rematch will be any less competitive as only a long neck separated the three horses at the wire. Worth noting that she earned her first triple digit SRF speed figure in that last race. 

I have to pick Beach Towel for the repeat First Lady win. She never runs a bad race and it is hard to root against her. Put Poetic Panther, Ruths House and Terrifiant Sunset behind her.

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES