With a well-timed ride by Javier Castellano, Ball Dancing exploded in the stretch to win the $300,000 Jenny Wiley S. (G1) by 2 ½-lengths Saturday at Keeneland for the first Grade 1 win for the 4-year-old daughter of Exchange Rate. Ball Dancing would be Exchange Rate’s first of two graded stakes winners over the weekend after Miss Ella scored in the Beaumont S. (G2) on Sunday, also at Keeneland. Read Miss Ella’s story here.
Ball Dancing, who already placed in the Grade 3 Hillsborough S. earlier this year, is one of four graded stakes winners in 2015 by her sire. Exchange Rate is standing this year at Three Chimneys Farm for $20,000, stands and nurses.
Owned by Will Farish and Steve Mooney, Ball Dancing settled in third and held that spot while in the two path for the first five furlongs. When Filimbi ranged up suddenly on Ball Dancing’s outside going into the final turn, Castellano took Ball Dancing three wide and to a narrow lead at the top of the stretch.
Though Filimbi loomed boldly, Ball Dancing took off in the final furlong to win going away.
Trained by Chad Brown, Ball Dancing covered the 1 1/16 miles on a turf course rated as yielding in 1:43.08.
“I could tell (jockey) Javier (Castellano) really didn’t want to move at that point (at the half-mile pole) but luckily (with) his great instincts he felt them coming and put (Filimbi) wider than us,” said Brown. “He gave the filly a great trip. She’s a wonderful horse to train, steadily improved.”
The victory was worth $180,000 and increased Ball Dancing’s earnings to $706,282 with a record of 9-4-3-0. Since coming to the States from France in 2014, Ball Dancing won the Sands Point S. (G2) at Belmont Park in her U.S. debut in September and finished second in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) at Keeneland in October.
“We gave her a chance to get her Grade 1 today and she did it for us. As long as she’s healthy, I have some big races planned for her this year,” Brown said when asked about plans for 2015.
