Bless the Broken triumphs in her turf debut in G2 $1.5 million Resolute Racing Ladies Turf

Qatar Racing, Mountmellick Farm and Hunter Valley Farm’s Bless the Broken made her turf debut a winning one, capturing Saturday’s Grade 2, $1.5 million Resolute Racing Ladies Turf going one mile at Kentucky Downs.

Trained by Brad Cox, Bless the Broken arrived at the Resolute Racing Ladies turf from five starts this season on dirt, including three Grade 1 placings. She handled her turf debut with aplomb, defeating a field that included Grade 1-winner Classic Q by two lengths.

Piloted by jockey Florent Geroux, Bless the Broken tracked in fourth while Buttercream Babe set the early tempo through an opening quarter-mile in 23.00 over the firm turf with favorite Classic Q tracking a close second. Through a half-mile in 45.97 seconds, Classic Q inched closer to the outside of pacesetting Buttercream Babe, with Bless the Broken in the clear in three path to their outside. Geroux started to get busy aboard Bless the Broken in upper stretch, and his charge spurted clear of Buttercream Babe and Classic Q in the final furlong to win by two lengths in a final time of 1:34.80.

Buttercream Babe finished second, a head to the better of third-place finisher Classic Q.

Completing the order of finish were Rashmi, Fast Market, Vive Veuve, and Princesa Moche. Hang the Moon, who will contest Sunday’s $500,000 One Dreamer, was scratched.

Although never having run on turf in her prior 14 starts, Bless the Broken did win the Bourbonette Oaks over Turfway Park’s synthetic surface last March. She entered the Ladies Turf from a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Shuvee on July 24 at Saratoga.

“She ran well on the synthetic surface before,” noted Sheikh Fahad Al Thani of Qatar Racing. “After the last race at Saratoga we spoke to Brad about trying her on turf and he wasn’t opposed to it. So, we worked her on turf in Saratoga and she worked well. It’s a race with a big purse, so we thought we’d give it a go.”

Bred in Kentucky by Cypress Creek Equine, Bless the Broken returned $48.15 for a $5 win wager. She upped her lifetime earnings to $1,635,985 through a 15-4-4-3 record, which also includes a third in last year’s Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks.

Live racing resumes on Sunday afternoon with a 12-race card, featuring the Grade 3, $1.5 million Global Tote Ladies Marathon Invitational and the $500,000 One Dreamer. First post is 12:25 PM CT.

The 1/ST BET Kentucky Downs Meet will be broadcast live each day of the seven-day meet on Peacock, FanDuelTV, as well as Kentucky Downs’ YouTube channel @kydownsracing. NBC Sports also will provide live coverage of Opening Day from 3:00-5:00 PM CT, while NBC will air Kentucky Downs on Saturday, September 5 during the same time slot.

Contact: Ryan Martin

(502) 523-4935