Verity makes the grade in the Beaumont (Courtney Snow/Past The Wire)
Churchill Downs Press Release
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Godolphin’s homebred Verity, fresh off a victory in the slop at Keeneland in the Beaumont (GII), will aim for a second consecutive Grade II score Friday when she takes on 11 rivals in the 70th running of the $600,000 Eight Belles presented by Sysco (GII) for 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs on the main track.
Trained by Eoin Harty, Verity won for the third time in four starts when she cruised to a 5 ¼-length victory in the Beaumont under Vincent Cheminaud, who retains the mount from post 5.
Expected to vie for favoritism is Stonestreet Stables’ Eclatant. Trained by Brad Cox, who has a record-tying three victories in the race, Eclatant will be making her first start since winning the Forward Gal (GIII) at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 1. Luis Saez has the mount from post 12.
The field for the Eight Belles (Race 9, post time 4:07 p.m.):
- Unchained Elaine (Junior Alvarado, Patrick Biancone)
- Evanescence (Luan Machado, Eddie Kenneally)
- Princess Aliyah (Nik Juarez, D. Wayne Lukas)
- Whatintheliteral (Jose Morelos, Jena Antonucci)
- Verity (Vincent Cheminaud)
- Kimchi Cat (Edgar Morales, Tom Amoss)
- Mendela (Rafael Bejarano, Chris Hartman)
- Blue Fire (Jose Ortiz, Steve Asmussen)
- Bourbon Memory (Gerardo Corrales, Brendan Walsh)
- Impulse Buy (Flavien Prat, Rodolphe Brisset)
- Look Forward (Umberto Rispoli, Michael McCarthy)
- Eclatant (Luis Saez, Brad Cox)
