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Fiesty lives up to her rating in Kentucky Breeders' Cup Heiligbrodt Racing Stable and JMJ Racing Stable's RATED FIESTY (Exchange Rate) remained unbeaten from two starts when storming home by 4 1/2 lengths in Thursday's $183,150 Kentucky Breeders' Cup S. (G3) at Churchill Downs. Trained by Steve Asmussen and piloted by Shaun Bridgmohan, the juvenile filly rocketed out of the gate and sprinted to the early lead through a quarter in :22 1/5. At the top of the stretch, Rated Fiesty was briefly headed by Yogi'ssplashofgold (Touch Gold), but she rebuffed that rival and quickly opened up a daylight margin. The gray completed five furlongs on the sloppy, sealed track in :57 2/5 to return $9.80, $5.80 and $3.80 as the near 4-1 third choice in the nine-horse field. "We knew she was fast," Asmussen said. "The only question was how she would handle the mud. When she broke as well as she did, I knew she would handle the ground." "She broke smartly," Bridgmohan said. "My job was easy thereafter because all I had to do was rate her along pretty nicely on the lead, which she managed to do herself. When they came to her, she found another gear, dug in -- and the professional that she is -- she went on and drew off from the other horses." The 6-1 Yogi'ssplashofgold was a clear second by three lengths, giving back $7 and $4.40 while ending the all-filly exacta worth $95. Ready's Image (More Than Ready), the 7-5 favorite, gained ground in the stretch to secure third, 5 1/2 lengths ahead of his nearest pursuer. Show paid $3, and the trifecta yielded $237.40. Wonderful Luck (Trust N Luck) hopped at the start and was steadied early, but the 7-2 second choice managed to cross the wire in fourth, resulting in a $558.40 superfecta (2-4-3-6). Preachin Man (Songandaprayer), Love Buzz (Silver Charm), Cape of Storms (Cape Town), Little Springer (Jump Start) and Alpha Tammy (Golden Missile) rounded out the order of finish. Rated Fiesty quintupled her bankroll to $137,535. The gray was coming off a 4 3/4-length maiden special weight score at Keeneland. Bred by the Heiligbrodts in Florida, Rated Fiesty is the first foal from Grade 3 heroine Fiesty Countess (Count the Time), who captured six stakes in the course of her career. This is the family of Grade 1 queen Dance Teacher (Smarten), multiple Grade 2 winner and $1.5 million-earner Gold Mover (Gold Fever) and multiple Grade 2 victor High Limit (Maria's Mon).
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