Lush Lips all heart in Mrs. Revere

Making her first start since selling for $3.7 million at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, Lush Lips went off as the prohibitive odds-on favorite in Friday’s $269,800 Mrs. Revere (G2) at Churchill Downs. But the Grade 1 star had to work harder than expected to win in her new Dixiana Farms silks. 

Lush Lips’ other human connections remained constant. The familiar routine with trainer Brendan Walsh likely helped her maintain form on the relatively quick turnaround from the sale, and jockey Tyler Gaffalione’s rapport with her came in handy here.

The class of the field coming off a victory in the Oct. 11 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) at Keeneland, Lush Lips broke well from her rail post. That enabled her to settle into a perfect tracking trip as Classic Q doled out splits of :24, :48.46, and 1:12.21 on the firm course. 

Yet when Lush Lips accosted Classic Q, turning for home, the longtime leader refused to yield. Lush Lips had a real fight on her hands before summoning all of her class to edge away. 

No sooner did Lush Lips begin to assert than a late threat flashed onto the scene in Pretty Picture. The favorite had done enough, though, to score by a half-length over Pretty Picture. Lush Lips’s performance can be upgraded by the fact that she was spotting four pounds to her rivals as the 122-pound highweight.

Lush Lips negotiated 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.75 and returned $3.14. 

The stubborn Classic Q was another neck away in third. Bracelet checked in a one-paced fourth, followed by Caviar Breakfast, Sea to Sky, In the Stars, J N J Heartandsoul, Table Flirt, and Somethinabouther. Fast Market, who won last Sunday’s Pebbles (G3) at Aqueduct, and Princess Attitude were scratched.

Lush Lips is nearing millionaire status with earnings of $916,793 from her 11-5-4-0 line. Initially trained by Donnacha O’Brien in Ireland, the bay won her first two starts for Walsh at Gulfstream Park. But her tendency to race too keenly cost her on the step up into graded company, where she placed to Nitrogen in both the Florida Oaks (G3) and Edgewood (G2). 

Walsh and his team had to teach her to settle. The lessons paid dividends when Lush Lips romped in the June 28 Tepin S. here. Denied by only a half-length in the Del Mar Oaks (G1), she scored her signature win in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup.

“She’s improved the entire year,” Walsh said. “All credit to our team. “I’m very thankful for the Dixiana Farms team to keep her in training. We had this race in mind after the sale. We’ll take her down to Florida after this and get her ready for her four-year-old season.” 

Lush Lips was bred by the Pocock Family in Great Britain. The Ten Sovereigns filly is out of the Arcano mare Lamyaa, who is in turn a half-sister to German Group 2-winning highweight sprinter Electric Beat. This is the further family of high-class miler Paco Boy.