Lovely Bernadette makes it three straight in Mrs. Revere

The margin of victory was narrower than five weeks ago in the Valley View (G3) at Keeneland, but Lovely Bernadette again got the jump on Journey Home in Saturday's $200,000 Mrs. Revere (G2) at Churchill Downs and held off that determined rival to post a half-length victory.

A stalking second to outsider Marina's Legacy, through fractions of :24.55 and :50.92 on the yielding turf, Lovely Bernadette took a narrow lead through six furlongs in 1:16.70, opened up a length in mid-stretch, and resisted a final surge from Journey Home and 11-10 favorite Daddys Lil Darling under Florent Geroux.

Owned by James Miller and trained by Jim DiVito, second choice Lovely Bernadette returned $9.80 after completing 1 1/16 miles in 1:47.02. Journey Home edged Daddys Lil Darling by a neck for the place. The order of finish was rounded out by I'm Betty G, Fault, Wesit, Proud Reunion, Tamit, Oh So Terrible, and Marina's Legacy.

A three-time winner on dirt at two, including the $80,000 Rags to Riches, four straight unplaced efforts thereafter prompted a switch to grass for a June 8 allowance at Churchill, which Lovely Bernadette won by 1 1/2 lengths. Third in the $100,000 Ta Wee and in the Pucker Up (G3) in her next two starts, Lovely Bernadette preceded this with a 1 1/2-length tally in the $200,000 Indiana Grand and the aforementioned win in the Valley View by the same margin. Her record now stands at 14-7-0-3, $508,530.

"She's gotten the absolute perfect trip in her last three starts," DiVito said. "They were going a slower pace up front today but Flo had her in a perfect spot. Once I saw the half-mile split in :50 I knew she'd have plenty left for when they turned for home.

"The sky is the limit for this horse. She's shown us how talented she is on the grass and I think she'll just keep getting better with age."

Bred in Kentucky by David Hager II, Lovely Bernadette was a $28,000 OBS two-year-old purchase. She was produced by Inlovewithlove, by Bernstein.