Meribel scored her first graded stakes victory in the Valley View (Matt Wooley/Horsephotos.com)

Arthur B. Hancock III and Catesby W. Clay's homebred MERIBEL (Peaks and Valleys) circled the field en route to a half-length victory in the off-the-turf, $125,000 Valley View S. (G3) at Keeneland on Friday.

In the opening stages, Garrett Gomez was content to drop Meribel back to the rear of the 13-filly field as Idle Quest (Coronado's Quest) carved out fractions of :23 4/5, :48 and 1:13 1/5. Leaving the far turn, the forwardly placed May Night (Gulch) took over from the fading pacesetter, getting the mile in 1:37 1/5. Her advantage was short-lived, however, as she was in turn collared by the rallying Precious Kitten (Catienus). Meanwhile, Gomez had angled Meribel out wide, and the Christophe Clement trainee uncorked a potent turn of foot to overhaul them all in a final time of 1:42 4/5 for 1 1/16 miles on the Polytrack. Sent off as the 2-1 favorite, the winner returned $6.20, $3.80 and $3 while keying exotics worth $25.20 (exacta), $229.80 (trifecta) and $1,714.40 (2-9-4-13 superfecta).

Runner-up Precious Kitten, who returned $5.20 and $3.60 at 5-1, was ridden by Rafael Bejarano, who had apparently escaped injury earlier in the day when unseated by his mount at the start of the 2ND race. After being examined by the Keeneland medical staff, Bejarano was deemed to be uninjured. Although he had taken off his mounts in the 3RD and 4TH races, Bejarano resumed riding in the 7TH. 

May Night had a half-length to spare over fourth-placer Pure Incentive (Fusaichi Pegasus) and returned $6.20 at nearly 11-1. Next came Rasta Farian (Holy Bull), J'ray (Distant View), Mysterious Lina (Fr) (Linamix), Delmarva (Unbridled's Song), Southern Protocol (Dixieland Band), Soothsay (Ire) (Mujadil), Transmit (Horse Chestnut [SAf]) Tiz a Fantasy (Tiznow) and Idle Quest.