Sky Girl takes flight in Dogwood

Alpha Delta Stables' Sky Girl was much the best as she took down her first

stakes in Saturday's Grade 3, $110,000

Dogwood

Stakes at Churchill Downs as the 4-5 favorite and returned $3.80 to her

backers for the win.

"We had thought the rail was a little bit dead, and our game plan was to come

off the rail if the field spread out a little bit," assistant trainer Kenny

McCarthy said. "But (jockey) Corey (Lanerie) said when they turned for home that

opening (on the rail) was there and he couldn't avoid it and had to take it. But

I thought she showed a lot of heart to come up the inside and push past the five

(Irish Lute) and she won pretty nicely."

The Bill Mott charge got off to a slow start, but sat within striking

distance of the leaders, Irish Lute and Guadalupe High, as they battled it out

up front through opening fractions of :23 and :46 1/5. Sky Girl started to move

up three wide on the far turn as Irish Lute continued to lead the field, while

Guadalupe High slowly started to fade. The eventual winner was boxed in entering

the stretch, found a seam down on the rail and surged to the lead inside the

final furlong to prevail by 1 1/2 lengths. The three-year-old filly covered

seven furlongs over the fast main track in 1:23 3/5.

"I was actually hoping to be laying third," Lanerie said. "They weren't going

very fast after they out-broke me; they covered me up. I was content with sittin'

and she was traveling so nice up to the quarter pole. I was hoping to come

around -- I thought the rail was a little bit dead -- but it was getting late in

the race and (inside) looked like my only option. I didn't want to wait too

long. When I swung down there she bogged down on me a little bit and for one

minute I thought I maybe wasn't going to get there. When she got in there she

kind of loafed on me a little bit -- she was like, 'I got 'em, don't worry.'

What a nice horse."

Irish Lute held on for second by a neck over third-place finisher Elusive

Fate. Don't Tell Veda, Finding More and Guadalupe High rounded out the order of

finish. Fusaichiswonderful, 5-2 morning-line favorite So Many Ways and

Thetaloveandmine were scratched from the race.

"She ran terrific," said Dallas Stewart, trainer of Irish Lute. "She was in

command of the race the whole time and she just got beat by a nice filly."

Sky Girl was a fast-closing third in her racing debut back in

April over Keeneland's Polytrack. She made her Churchill bow on

May 3, breaking her maiden by 4 1/2 lengths. The dark bay captured an optional

claimer over a sloppy Churchill track in June and was exiting a third-place

finish in her stakes bow in the Arlington Park Oaks on July 20. With Saturday's

score, Sky Girl banked $67,518 to boost her bankroll to $150,853 from a 5-3-0-2

line.

Bred in Kentucky by Clearsky Farms, the daughter of Sky Mesa is out of the

Deputy Minister mare Vargas Girl, who is a half-sister to Grade 1 scorer Bevo.

Vargas Girl is also a half-sister to Grade 3 victress Moonlight Sonata, who

produced Grade 2 victors Wilburn and Beethoven.

Sky Girl's third dam is multiple

stakes queen Family Way, and her female family also boasts Grade 1 winner Twixt.

Sky Girl sold as a weanling for $52,000 at the Keeneland November sale and

then sold again as a yearling for $150,000 at the Keeneland September sale.

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