2022 Doubledogdare Stakes Contenders at Keeneland

Malathaat & Bonny South Make 2022 Debuts in Doubledogdare

Malathaat (Shadwell Stables), the champion 3-year-old filly of 2021, will make her 2022 debut Friday when she headlines a field of six fillies and mares for the 27th running of the Grade 3, $300,000 Doubledogdare Stakes going a mile and a sixteenth on the main track at Keeneland Racecourse.

The Baird Doubledogdare will go as the ninth race on Friday's 10-race program with a 5:16 p.m. ET post time. First post is 1 p.m.

Trained by four-time race winner Todd Pletcher, Malathaat compiled a 5-3-1-1 record last year highlighted by Grade 1 victories in the Central Bank Ashland, Kentucky Oaks and Alabama.

John Velazquez, who has won this race five times including all four of Pletcher's victories, has the mount Friday and will break from post one.

Also making her 2022 debut is defending champion Bonny South.

Owned by Juddmonte and trained by Brad Cox, Bonny South is seeking to become the first horse to win the Baird Doubledogdare in consecutive years. Four times graded stakes-placed in 2021, Bonny South will break from post four and be ridden by Florent Geroux.

The field for the Baird Doubledogdare, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Malathaat (Velazquez, 118 pounds), Super Quick(Joe Talamo, 120), Audrey's Time (Corey Lanerie, 118), Bonny South (Geroux, 118), Crazy Beautiful (Brian Hernandez Jr., 120) and Lady Mystify (Flavien Prat, 118).

Trainer Brad Cox has the chance at Keeneland stakes history this weekend

No trainer has won more than four stakes during a Keeneland race meet, but by the time the dust settles Saturday afternoon, Brad Cox could eclipse that mark.

Half of Cox's six victories at the meet have come in stakes, starting opening weekend with Just One Time in the Madison (G1) and Matareya in the Beaumont (G3) Presented by Keeneland Select. He added No. 3 last Saturday with Tawny Port in the Stonestreet Lexington (G3).

On Friday, Cox will send out Juddmonte's Bonny South in the Baird Doubledogdare (G3) and Saturday will saddle Twin Creeks Racing Stables' Warrant in the Ben Ali (G3). Both horses are scheduled to arrive at Keeneland today from Churchill Downs.

Three trainers have had four stakes victories during a Spring Meet: Ben Jones in 1948 during an 11-day meet, Todd Pletcher in the 15-day meet in 2011 and Chad Brown in the 16-day meet in 2018.

During the Fall Meet, D. Wayne Lukas had four stakes victories during 16-day seasons in 1994 and 1995; Mark Casse and Graham Motion each notched four stakes victories in 2016's 17-day meet.

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Lady Mystify Supplements Into Major Challenge

Trainer and part-owner Peter Eurton was looking for a nice allowance race last weekend for Lady Mystify. However, the race did not fill and Eurton went to Plan B: supplementing Lady Mystify to Friday's $300,000 Baird Doubledogdare (G3).

"I was just looking over the PPs and I didn't know that Malathaat would be in there," Eurton said, referring to the 2021 Eclipse Award winner as champion 3-year-old filly. "There are some nice fillies in there, and it is a good race. We are going to take a shot. We got a great draw (post six)."

Lady Mystify closed her 2021 campaign with a victory in the Remington Park Oaks (G3) and a runner-up finish in the Zia Park Oaks (L) to Grade 3 winner Pauline's Pearl. After a brief freshening, Lady Mystify returned in the Azeri (G2) at Oaklawn Park on March 12 and chased another Eclipse Award winner in Ce Ce.

Eurton said Lady Mystify had a challenging week at Oaklawn.

"She kicked herself when we got there and we got that cleared up," Eurton said, "and then she had a tough trip in the race. We are going to draw a line through that one and throw it out."

Since arriving a Keeneland, Lady Mystify has had two sharp half-mile works with jockey Flavien Prat aboard. Prat, who rode Lady Mystify in her final two starts of 2021, has the mount Friday.

Audrey's Time Aiming For Baird Doubledogdare Shocker

Trainer Neil Pessin believes he has found the right level of competition for Lothenbach Stables' Audrey's Time.

"I think she is a Grade 3/non-graded stakes filly," Pessin said of the Keeneland sales graduate, one of six fillies and mares entered in Friday's 27th running of the $300,000 Baird Doubledogdare (G3) going a mile and sixteenth on the main track. "But there always seems to be one or two in there that she can't beat. She is just a cut below that kind."

In her most recent start, Audrey's Time chased Grade 1 winner Clairiere in an allowance race at Fair Grounds. On Friday, she will take on Eclipse Award winner Malathaat, who will be making her 4-year-old debut.

"That's one right there," Pessin said of Malathaat. "I think she will be fully cranked (for her debut)."

Also in the Baird Doubledogdare field is defending champion Bonny South, who finished second and 3½ lengths in front of Audrey's Time when they met in the Falls City (G2) last November.

"This is her home base, and you've got to run somewhere," said Pessin of Audrey's Time, who will break from post three under Corey Lanerie. "I have no delusions of grandeur, and I will be the most surprised person in the Grandstand if she wins."