The Grade 3, $300,000 Cardinal Stakes, for fillies and mares on the Churchill Downs turf, has been won the past two years by foreign-bred mares. Last fall, Irish-born Star Fortress won the race in her first start in the United States; the year before, German-bred Dalika, who had been racing stateside for some years, took the event. The last time the race was won by a horse bred in the United States was in 2019 – the race was not contested in 2020 or 2021 – when Kallilo, trained by Brendan Walsh, won.
Walsh has both bases covered for Thursday’s renewal of the Cardinal, as he will saddle Kentucky-bred Implicated, the 5-2 choice on the morning line, as well as English-bred Queen Regent, both of whom transferred to his barn earlier this season.
Implicated, previously trained by Chad Brown, won her first two starts for Walsh with career-high Beyer Speed Figures, taking a Churchill allowance/optional-claiming race in May with a 92 and then winning the Grade 2 Nassau at Woodbine over the talented Fev Rover, earning a 93.
More recently, Implicated was 11th in the Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf, on a unique course that some horses do not take to; and then was 10th against salty competition in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland. All four of her starts for Walsh have been at a mile. She was off the board in her lone start at Thursday’s 1 1/8-mile distance back in 2023. That may make her a vulnerable favorite.
Stablemate Queen Regent is cutting back in distance and may offer a bit of value. After racing in her native England for John and Thady Gosden, she won her first start for Walsh in a 1 5/16-mile allowance race at Kentucky Downs. She then was ninth in a Keeneland allowance at 1 1/2 miles, then bounced back to finish third in the Grade 3 Maple Leaf on Woodbine’s Tapeta, at 1 1/4 miles. That effort earned her a Beyer of 89, narrowly the best last-out figure in a well-matched field.
Dreaming of Mo, Implicated, Magical Lute, Stir Crazy, and She’s Lookin Lucky are all coming off efforts in which they earned numbers between 86 and 88. Queen Regent would like to come from a bit off the pace and has shown the ability to rally into moderate paces.
Duvet Day also is cutting back in distance after running exclusively in stakes at 1 1/4 miles or longer for more than two years. She has not won since taking the Astra in January 2023 at Santa Anita, but is multiple stakes-placed this year.
Dreaming of Mo is fond of Churchill Downs, never worse than second in three starts on the local turf. She is coming off a four-length score in an off-the-turf allowance/optional-claiming race at this track last month.
Adrasteia and She’s Lookin Lucky are both coming off allowance-level wins at Churchill Downs, and Harvey’s Princess won last out at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Stir Crazy and Quality Star were both most recently second at the allowance level at Keeneland, with Stir Crazy beaten just a nose.
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