May 2 (UPI) -- Good Cheer overcame a wet track and a wide trip to post her seventh win without loss, taking Friday's $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks by an easy 3 lengths over a dozen outclassed rivals.
With Luis Saez up, the Medaglia d'Oro filly raced in mid-pack until the field hit the stretch turn then rallied outside rivals and out of trouble and met no opposition as she steadily ran to the lead in the long Churchill Downs stretch.
Drexel Hill was along to finish second as Good Cheer finished 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.15. Bless the Broken was third and Tenma finished fourth after contesting a hot early pace.
"She was probably a touch closer to it (the lead) than I thought," said trainer Brad Cox, who won his third Kentucky Oaks. "I kinda thought we'd have four or five of them in front of us and it kinda worked out that way.
"But Luis did a good job of keeping her engaged early and keeping her out in the clear. Keeping her in the clear was a positive."
Good Cheer is owned by Godolphin, the racing entity of Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.
She started her career with a victory last August at Horseshoe Indianapolis -- a track just up Interstate 65 from Louisville that Cox uses as an alternative to the Kentucky ovals. Her next race was on a sloppy track at Churchill Downs and she won that by 17 lengths.
She has never looked back, winning two stakes races at Churchill Downs and two more in New Orleans, including the Grade II Fair Grounds Oaks in her previous start.
The Kentucky Oaks was her first Grade I but Godolphin' U.S. representative, Michael Banahan, said his organization is expecting more.
"She was the perfect filly for the Oaks today," Banahan said, hoisting the trophy alongside Cox. "It was great for Sheik Mohammed, one of his sires and one of his mares (produced Good Cheer).
"I think there's no ceiling for her. She should be in all the big races for 3-year-old fillies this year and hopefully we culminate in the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar in the fall."
Saez said, "When I was in jockey school, I had a dream to come over here to the United States and ride in these kind of races. Today, we're having this moment so I'm just so grateful."
The race was run on a sloppy track, thanks to a severe thunderstorm that rolled through Louisville two races before the Oaks, briefly delaying the program.
The Kentucky Oaks is the filly equivalent of the Kentucky Derby. While the Derby gets the most exposure, the Oaks also is crucially important to the thoroughbred breeding industry, which is the financial engine of the sport. Oaks winners always are in demand as broodmares at the end of their racing career.
Godolphin has two chances to win its first Kentucky Derby Saturday with Blue Grass Stakes runner-up East Avenue and Florida Derby runner-up Sovereignty. Manny Franco rides East Avenue and Junior Alvarado pilots Sovereignty while Saez watches from the sidelines.
