The Martha Washington (KYO)- $300.000 Purse
OP- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
January 25, 2025

The sun would set on one horse’s undefeated streak as another would steal the show and take the 20 KYO points that were at stake. Confident Elegance, who’s close to being able to boast her own streak of perfection would be able to catch BC Juvenile Fillies winner Soliloquy Sunset in the stretch and went on to win by half a length. Confident Elegance was not among our top four picks, though we still thought highly of her, and her omission there was more a product of who she was running against. The filly came into the race winning four out of five, including a nice win in the LCD Lassie, but the small bit of a concern on her was that she had not really run against the likes of Soliloquy Sunset yet, as well as other BC runners in the field. All that will not matter now, as she beats them all in the Martha Washington, and will be exciting to watch going forward. She is trained by Wood Duck Stables and had P Lopez aboard. For each, it is their first win in this race. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:41.06. Unfortunately, we can’t compare that time to anything, because only one other edition of the race was run at this distance, and when it was, it was an off track. Here’s a look at how the race went down:

(1/4 Mile- :23.52)- Soliloquy Sunset wastes no time jumping out to the race lead for Nakamura Stables. This has not always been her racing style, but it’s also not new to her, either. She’s a length over Cam Code and Locked In, running for TwinTowersRacing and Mb Stables, respectively, and their presence prevented Soliloquy Sunset from being able to move all the way to the rail for most of the opening turn. Behind those two, we have Rock Creek’s Rogers Schnapps on the rail and Lucille in the third lane for D J C Racing Stables. Back a little more to the Big Guns Stable- trained Gigafemme in the fourth lane before we find our eventual winner from Wood Duck Stables, Confident Elegance. For now, she is running in the seventh spot and in the second lane as they round the turn. This will leave her with a few more to pass than she is used too, but traditionally she is just a couple lengths off at the start. It’s another length to Melting Shadows (Jokerjoes), and the final four of Twizted Tea (Asgar), Creepy Runner Party (Mb Stables), Chilukki (Pan Farms), and Fluidity (Crazy Horse Racing) run together.

(½ Mile- :47.36)- Midway into the backstretch, Soliloquy Sunset is able to move over to the rail as she is able to maintain a length advantage over Cam Code and Locked In. Those two look good at this point, each potentially waiting for their time to strike. Lucille is fourth, and has the ability, if she desired, to pull three wide of those two in front of her. Confident Elegance lives up to her name as she gracefully heads down the backstretch, getting by both Rogers Schanpps and Gigafemme in the process while still running in the second lane. Behind them, Melting Shadows is next, while Creepy Runner Party looks to pull ahead of those at the back she was running with. Twizted Tea is next on the rail, followed by Chilukki and Fluidity.

(Top of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Soliloquy Sunset is certainly looking like an undefeated BC champion at this point, comfortably handling the turn and appearing like she might draw away from the competition in the stretch. Locked In is hanging with her on the rail, but the same could not be said for Cam Code, who drops back. Lucille is about to go by her, but even she has lost a little ground to the leader. Further back, Confident Elegance simply did not have running room to make a move on exit of the turn and was in a tough spot entering the stretch and momentarily saw Gigafemme get back by her. With a furlong and a half to go, P Lopez was able to get Confident Elegance over to the third lane, and it was at this point where she would have room to run. There was time, but that’s Soliloquy Sunset that she needs to catch. Otherwise, Creepy Runner Party was one to keep an eye on as she made an outside bid. Rogers Schnapps was lacking response, and if anyone else had a run coming, they needed to get moving now.

(Finish- 1:41.06)- Soliloquy Sunset gets the better of Locked In, but Confident Elegance had plenty left in the tank to make her charge at her. She was coming on quickly, and as we got closer to the wire, it seemed like she was going to get there in time, but perhaps Soliloquy Sunset could dig down and hold her off. In the end, this day would belong to Confident Elegance, who makes the pass and goes on to win by half a length and silencing anyone who may have had doubts about her not having run against BC runners before. Now she has, and now she has beaten them, and we will look forward to see where prep season takes her over the next couple months, leading into the KYO. Soliloquy Sunset is second, and we can’t let Locked In get lost in all of this. She also ran gamely to the wire and looked good in her third-place effort, a result that will be all the more appealing if Confident Elegance and Soliloquy Sunset emerge as two of the best in this class. Creepy Runner Party ran well late to get fourth, a length and a half over Lucille, Twizted Tea, and Gigafemme, who ran close to one another. Rounding it out, it’s Chilukki, Cam Code, Melting Shadows, Rogers Schnapps, and eventually, Fluidity.

About The Winner- Confident Elegance, trained by Wood Duck Stables and ridden to victory by P Lopez, is a three-year-old filly by Declassified and is out of Audrey. She was bred in Louisiana by Wood Duck Stables as a first quarter two-year-old and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fifth in six starts and third stake win. Her career earnings are now $354.200.

Track: Fast
Time: :23²  :47¹  1:11²  1:41⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 7 – 5 Paid 107.40
$1 Trifecta: 7 – 5 – 3 Paid 633.60

Scratched: Scenic View

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded