“She Keeps Going”: Equestrian Champions Triumph in Grade 3 Stakes, Securing First American Win

Year after another, the Keeneland Race Course has been home to the annual Dowager Stakes. The Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race appears every October to host some of the best three years and older fillies and mares across the equestrian community. Carrying a purse of $300,000, the event was back again for a fierce showdown on Sunday afternoon for the 32nd edition.

On the 22nd of October, for race 7 at Rood and Riddle Dowager Stakes, 7 equines raced to the finish on the 1 1/2 miles firm turf course. Amongst these celebrated athletes, two of Great Britain’s best raced to shine at the event. Though the race started with an early lead, spectators could only know the dominant lead by the arrival of the final furlong.

Equine aces first US stakes

7 equine started at the gates on Sunday afternoon for a purse of $260,025. With the opening of the gates, Vergara took an early lead, closely followed by Henrietta Topham. The two continued to maintain the dominance down to the final circuit. 1/2 mile in, Henrietta Topham headed over to the top spot by a length as Transient trailed. As the race headed closer to the finish, Romagna Mia was positioned back at 6th; five lengths off. However, with the first turn, Great Britain’s equine started to pick the pace.

The 4-year-old filly started from the outside and pushed ahead from 5th to equal the wide open ground. With a quarter mile left on the map, Transient overtook the lead from long-standing Henrietta Topham and Romagna Mia found a clear opening to join the two. What was a neck race with a mile in turned out to be a win by comfortable 3 lengths for Graham Motion-trained Romagna Mia.

Paulick Report reports that the win was a fourth dowager for equestrian Graham Motion. The trainer is Romagna Mia’s recent one after she was transferred to the US; having previously trained under France-based trainer Jérôme Reynier.

Equestrian pours praise for the filly

Romagna Mia is a 4-year-old filly who started her career back in 2021. With 12 starts to her name, the filly owns the 1st place title in Italy and a 3rd in Grade 1, Beverly Derby. “(Owner) Barry kept telling me, ‘She stays all day. She stays all day,’” Velazquez, the Jockey said according to Paulick Report. “So I just had that in my head. She’s going to stay all day, so I’m going to put the pressure on and hope she keeps going that way.”

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With her impressive performance, Romagna earned her first win in the United States along with a check for $151,125. The filly now with 4 wins owns career earnings of $363,304. Romagna was followed for a second position by fellow GB Mare, Transient. The 5-year-old added $48,750 to the earnings.

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