Front-running Dalika upsets Beverly D. in game fashion

Photo:

Wendy Wooley/Equisport Photos for Eclipse Sportswire

Dalika set the pace, dug in gamely, and upset the Grade 1, $500,000 Beverly D. (G1) Saturday at Churchill Downs. The longest shot on the board, she paid $17.02 to win.

In addition to the winner’s share of the purse, the Al Stall Jr. trainee also earned an expenses-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, scheduled for Nov. 5 at Keeneland, if her connections decide to nominate her to the race. She is not currently nominated. Stall stated in the winners’ circle shortly after the race that it would be owner Bal Mar Equine LLC’s decision whether to do so.

From the rail draw, jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. sent Dalika through early and soon cleared to the lead, with Princess Grace tracking in second. Lily Pond tracked at the outside of the next flight after breaking awkwardly outward, with Family Way directly to her inside. Rougir settled at the rear.

Nearing the quarter pole Princess Grace threatened to Dalika’s outside, and briefly got her head in front near the three-sixteenths pole. However, Dalika found more. She battled back inside of Princess Grace, wrested back the lead past the furlong pole, and edged clear to win. Family Way chased them home in third, with Lily Pond and Rougir completing the order of finish.

Dalika is a 6-year-old German-bred mare by Pastorius out of the Hurricane Run mare Drawn to Run. The win in the Beverly D. is Dalika’s eighth in 28 lifetime starts, and her first at the Grade 1 level. She has long shown an affinity for running on grass at Churchill Downs: in seven career starts over the track, she has three wins and three seconds.

This story will be updated.