Beat the Blues captures Winning Colors in third attempt

The third time proved to be the charm for Beat the Blues in Monday's Grade 3,

$108,000

Winning Colors, a six-furlong dash at Churchill Downs she had finished

second in the previous two years.

Hounded by Burban, who traded leads with her through splits of :21 2/5 and

:44, Beat the Blues shook off that rival at the top of the stretch and repelled

a bid from Judy the Beauty to win by three parts of a length in a time of 1:08

2/5 over a fast track. The 9-2 third choice in a field of five, Beat the Blues

returned $11.20, $4 and $3.20.

Owned by Martin Racing Stable and Morgan Thoroughbred, Beat the Blues is

trained by Bret Calhoun and secured the trip to the winner's circle under the

direction of Miguel Mena.

Judy the Beauty, sent off as the 4-5 favorite, finished 4 1/4 lengths clear

of third-place finisher Vuitton. Burban and Funnys Approval completed the order

of finish.

The field was reduced by two following the scratches of Grade 3 winner

Blueeyesintherein and Holiday Soiree. Trainer Garry Simms felt the race came up

too tough for the three-year-old Blueeyesintherein, while Holiday Soiree

finished third in the Red Cross at Monmouth Park on Monday.

An ex-claimer who developed into an allowance-class filly in 2010, Beat the

Blues became a stakes winner in 2011 when taking the Saylorville at Prairie

Meadows. She also placed in both the Winning Colors and the Honorable Miss

Handicap at Saratoga, losing the former by a neck to the talented Sassy Image.

In an abbreviated five-race campaign in 2012, Beat the Blues captured the

Carousel at Oaklawn Park and again placed in both the Winning Colors and

Honorable Miss, as well as the Blue Sparkler at Monmouth Park. She preceded this

initial graded stakes triumph with runner-up efforts in the Mardi Gras Handicap

at Fair Grounds and in the Carousel, the latter by a nose to Vuitton. The

daughter of Great Pyramid now possesses a mark 24-10-6-4, $520,634.

Bred in Florida by Edward Pendray, B.K. Pendray, William F. Murphy and

Annabel Murphy, Beat the Blues was produced by the Pentelicus mare Imtheblues.

Smart Deb, the champion juvenile filly of 1962, and multiple Grade 1 winner Gold

and Myrrh hail from this extended family.

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