Pharoah’s Wine has improved throughout her 4-year-old season, and on Thursday she ran her best race yet in the richest opportunity of her career, the $500,000 One Dreamer Stakes at Kentucky Downs. With a late wide surge under Corey Lanerie, Pharoah’s Wine ran down five horses through the homestretch and scored a 1 1/2-length One Dreamer victory.
Sparkle Blue, who, for lack of a true front-runner, set the early pace, fell back to fifth at the stretch call but came on again to nab second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Adrasteia, at 17-1 the longest shot among seven runners. Vive Veuve, favored at 7-5, tracked a moderate pace but came up empty and faded to sixth. No Mo Candy, on paper the likely pacesetter, and Buttercream Babe were scratched. No Mo Candy holds an entry in the $2 million Ladies Marathon on Saturday. The One Dreamer, run over one mile and 70 yards, was open to older fillies and mares who hadn’t won a stakes race during 2025.
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Pharoah’s Wine’s trainer, Dale Romans, hadn’t won much of anything recently at Kentucky Downs, where, over the last five years, he’d gone 1 for 28. But Romans, having his best season in years, has overseen steady progression from Pharoah’s Wine, who hit a new level in May and has sustained that form into September. Winner of consecutive allowance races in May and June at Churchill, Pharoah’s Wine came within a nose of not being eligible for the One Dreamer when she took a narrow defeat Aug. 3 in an Ellis Park prep race for the Ladies Turf Mile at this meet.
Lanerie, during the early and middle stages of Thursday’s contest, nestled Pharoah’s Wine between horses in fifth, just a couple lengths behind the leader. Pharoah’s Wine briefly fell back to sixth in upper stretch as Lanerie waited for running room, and when he got his mount outside and into the clear, Pharoah’s Wine pounced on the leaders, overtaking them with speed to spare.
Over a firm course, Pharoah’s Wine clocked 1:39.31, and Kentucky Downs seemed to have sorted out timing issues prevalent during the first three cards of the meet. She paid $7.42 as the second choice. Romans trains the filly for Nancy Deloney, William Pacella, and Frank Shoop, who, with Frank Jones, bred Pharoah’s Wine. Pharoah’s Wine is by American Pharoah out of Sweeping Paddy, by Paddy O’Prado, whom Romans trained to a third-place finish in the 2010 Kentucky Derby. Paddy O’Prado hit his peak later that year on turf, winning the Grade 1 Secretariat. Pharoah’s Wine hit her peak Thursday at Kentucky Downs and captured the One Dreamer.
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