Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc.
Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc.
WHAT HORSE WON THE LAS VIRGENES STAKES (GII) AND WENT ON TO WIN THE BREEDERS' CUP DISTAFF (GI) TWICE?
2/7/2020
For filly and mare Thoroughbred race horses winning the Breeders’ Cup Distaff is a career defining moment. Three horses have done it twice. Only one accomplished that feat after winning the Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita. That race will be run this weekend and is Handicappers’ Corner race of the week. The first horse to repeat in the Distaff was Bayakoa. She did in 1989 and 1990, at age 5 and 6 respectively. Both were won by the same jockey/trainer combination ---Laffit Pincay and Ron McAnally. The next double Distaff occurred in 2011 and 2012 when Royal Delta did it. She was trained by Bill Mott and ridden in 2011 by Jose Lezcano and in 2012 by Mike Smith. However, the only horse to win the Las Virgenes Stakes and win the Distaff twice was Beholder. She won the Las Virgenes Stakes and the Distaff in 2013 at 3-years-old and the Distaff again in 2016 as a 6-year-old with the help of the jockey/trainer combination of Gary Stevens and Richard Mandella. Will any of the five running in this year’s Las Virgenes Stakes have the same fortune?