Denim and Pearls pulls away from her rivals to win the Beaumont (Keeneland Photo)
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Keeneland Press Release
LEXINGTON, Ky.— Red, White and Blue Racing’s Denim and Pearls swept past even-money favorite and stablemate Youalmosthadme at the top of the stretch and drew off to a stakes-record 9¼-length victory in the 39th running of the $395,063 MiddleGround Capital Beaumont (G2) for 3-year-old fillies Sunday afternoon.
Prior to the MiddleGround Capital Beaumont, Fandom (GB) won the fifth running of the $207,688 Palisades (L) for 3-year-olds.
Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Flavien Prat, Denim and Pearls completed the Beard Course distance of 7 furlongs, 184 feet in 1:26.54 over a fast main track.
It is the second stakes win of the weekend for Randy Gullat’s Red, White and Blue Racing. Neat provided the first victory for the stable in Friday’s Transylvania (G3) Presented by Keeneland Select.
The duo of Cox and Prat scored their third consecutive victory in the race following Key of Life last year and Matareya, who was an 8½-length winner in 2022.
Vicountess led the field of six through opening fractions of :22.99 and :46.41 while being tracked by Youalmosthadme with Denim and Pearls racing just behind the top two. On the turn, Vicountess gave way and Youalmosthadme took over but the lead was short lived.
Denim and Pearls blew past her stablemate at the top of the stretch and easily drew off.
Denim and Pearls is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Into Mischief out of the Majestic Warrior mare Majestic Presence. In posting her first stakes victory, Denim and Pearls improved her record to 5-3-2-0 and increased her earnings to $457,435 that includes Sunday’s check of $244,900.
Denim and Pearls returned $5.58, $3.42 and $2.40. Harbor Springs rallied to take second and return $6.82 and $3.18 under Irad Ortiz Jr. with Youalmosthadme finishing another 3 lengths back in third and paying $2.18 to show under Tyler Gaffalione.
It was another 1¾ lengths back to Chi Chi with Tipsy Tammy and Vicountess following in order.
Quotes for the $400,000 MiddleGround Capital Beaumont (G2)
Brad Cox (winning trainer of Denim and Pearls):
On the cutback in distance
“She didn’t want to go that far. She had great trips both times down there at Oaklawn around two turns (when second in both the 1-mile Year’s End Stakes Dec. 31 and the 8½-furlong Martha Washington Stakes Feb. 3) and just didn’t finish up the way we hoped. We zeroed in on this race after that last one at Oaklawn. She trains very well in the morning. She’s a great mover. We were hoping she’d be a mile-and-an-eighth filly and we could march toward the (Kentucky) Oaks (G1), but (owner) Randy Gullat (of Red, White and Blue Racing) and the whole team are all about trying to do what’s best for her and not make her do something she isn’t capable of doing, and she rewarded them today.”
On her blowout performance today
“She drew the 1 (post), and I thought the 3 (Tipsy Tammy) was going to go (to the lead), but she didn’t break (well). We found ourselves sitting in a great spot with two really good fillies (stablemate Youalmosthadme ran third). The other filly I think was maybe a little short, but this filly really finished up well. Probably (she gained) a lot of stamina and fitness from those two-turn races we asked of her at Oaklawn.”
Flavien Prat (winning rider): “It was a very good performance today. She was traveling well all the way around. I didn’t want to move too soon but she just did it on her own, so I thought to let her run from there. She did the rest. It was a great move by (trainer) Brad (Cox) to cut back in distance as well.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. (rider of runner-up Harbor Springs): “I stumbled out of there. After that, I let her be. I let her get together, and she recovered pretty quickly. After that, I just bide my time, waiting on the time to go. She was running on the end. The winner is a really nice filly. She ran away from me, but my filly was running on the end.”
Tyler Gaffalione (rider of third-place finisher Youalmosthadme): “She broke, she did everything right. I guess the layoff might have got to her. She came back happy. We’ll live to fight another day.”
