The Cotillion (Grade 1)- $1,000.000 Purse
PRX- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
September 21, 2024

The field for the 2024 running of The Cotillion certainly lived up to its reputation of being as high caliber as a BC race may be. With so many different winners of big races leading into it, and others that did well in those races without winning them, it could be easy to look past a horse like Divine Moonlight. She went off at odds at 11/1, not as much because bettors, as well as us in our preview, didn’t like her but because in a race like this, there are others that are going to stand out a lot more. Well, now this filly Decima has her own massive victory to put herself right alongside the others as she prevailed at the wire over the reigning KYO, CCA Oaks and Alabama winner, Wasted Away. Simply a great race, and you can get ready to here many Cotillion references when BC previews are written. Divine Moonlight is trained by Smokey Stover, and it’s his second win in the race. He won previously in 2022, with Third Gear. L Dettori is the winning jockey for his first Cotillion trophy. The winning race time was 1:41.57, the second quickest in race history. Only the legendary Mrs Bombastic was faster, in 2010. Here’s a look at the race:

(1/4 Mile- :23.36)- From the starting gate, Wasted Away, trained by Mb Stables, will be quicker than the rest of them moving into the turn, but she has company up front. Double Zee broke well from the outside for TwinTowersRacing and ended up pulling up right alongside Wasted Away at a quarter mile and poke a head in front soon after. Reflex Action is right there as well, running closer to the rail for D J C Racing Stables. In the fourth position is where we find our eventual race winner, Smokey Stover’s Divine Moonlight. She’s a length behind the top three, but there is an opening for her between Reflex Action and Wasted Away moving into the first turn if she wanted to take advantage of it. Her stablemate, Lille, is to her inside on the rail, and Hobo Blues, owned by Alydar Stables is also nearby. Running in the middle of the pack, we have Saratoga Stud’s Lab Virus, as well as our pick to win who hopefully will not disappoint us, Purple Charger, from Fractious. It’s another length to Beautiful Eileen (TwinTowersRacing) and Plenty Of Profit (Riggins Racing), and another to Skydancer (Riggins Racing), Rubimaulu (Fractious), and Beach Towel (Winning Link Stables). Traditional closer Lady Lara (Night Mare Racing) is where you’d expect her to be early on.

(½ Mile- :46.65)- As referenced, it would not take much longer for Double Zee to inherit the top spot, and she would pull ahead by a length and a half entering the backstretch. Wasted Away and Reflex Action were content to just let her have that top spot, and continued running at their own pace, in second and third. Hobo Blues also stayed with this group and was fourth while running in the third lane. Divine Moonlight is now directly behind Wasted Away as she maintained her steady stride. Lille is starting to lose touch with the lead group, and we have a little more separation developing behind her. On the outside, Beach Towel has been moving forward, passing five horses over the second quarter mile. Purple Charger, Lab Virus, and Beautiful Eileen are three wide, six lengths from the front. It’s another length and a half to Plenty Of Profit, Skydancer, and Rubimaulu, with Lady Lara still at the back.

(Top of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- As the field rounds the final turn, we catch a glimpse of why Wasted Away has already won some big races in her career as she handles it brilliantly. Entering the top of the stretch, she’s outkicked Reflex Action, who’s still holding her own, and then makes the pass of Double Zee look easy as she hopes to draw away. However, she has one problem, and that’s Divine Moonlight. L Dettori did well to keep his filly right behind Wasted Away, and when that one made her move, so to did Divine Moonlight, following her right along. Entering the top of the stretch, the agenda for her would now be to make that pass for the win, so Dettori would position her to come along the outside of Wasted Away in the stretch. Meanwhile, Hobo Blues quickly dropped out of contention as Beach Towel moved into fifth. She was looking good but had a lot of ground to make up on horses that were running well. Behind her, the field was spreading out as others looked for their lane, so something figured to materialize back there though it had not happened quite yet.

(Finish- 1:41.57)- Divine Moonlight had her chance now to shine and take down this massive rival within her division and get a true, statement victory. Wasted Away was not backing down, but that did not matter as Divine Moonlight continued to get closer, and with less than a furlong to go, she would take over the top spot. From there, the race was hers, shocking the crowd and elating her supporters at 11/1 as she earns the biggest win of her career. Wasted Away takes second, and it’s Beach Towel taking third. Beautiful Eileen’s consistent effort got her fourth, a great day for the horse that was an absurd longshot. The next three spots also were claimed by horses with high odds: Reflex Action, Rubimaulu, and Lady Lara. Unexpected post time favorite Skydancer is eighth, topping Double Zee, Lab Virus, Lille, and Plenty Of Profit. Our pick to win, Purple Charger massively let us down, beating only Hobo Blues.

About The Winner- Divine Moonlight, trained by Smokey Stover and ridden by L Dettori, is a three-year-old filly by Decima and is out of Dimension. She was bred by LionKing Stables in Kentucky as a third quarter two-year-old, and was acquired by Smokey Stover, via Riggins Racing, for $600.000 this January in private sales. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fifth in eight starts, and her second stake win, each of which are graded. It’s her first stake win as a three year old, and her career earnings are now $888.170.

Track: Fast
Time: :23¹  :46³  1:10⁴  1:41²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 5 – 8 Paid 142.30
$1 Trifecta: 5 – 8 – 13 Paid 679.10

Scratched: Active Will

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES