Valadorna Edges Apologynotaccepted to Win Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare

By Amy Owens —-

Clickhere for a video of all the fun and racing excitement today at Keeneland

Valadorna Edges Apologynotaccepted
to Win Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare

LEXINGTON, KY (April 20, 2018) – Stonestreet Stables’ Valadorna wore down longshot pacesetter Apologynotaccepted in deep stretch by three-quarters of a length to win the 24th running of the $100,000 Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare (G3) for fillies and mares before a Friday afternoon crowd of 16,362.

Trained by Mark Casse and ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., Valadorna covered the 1 1/16 miles on a fast main track in 1:43.87. Casse earned his 20th Keeneland stakes victory and his second in this race with the other win coming in 2014 with Sisterly Love.

Apologynotaccepted led the field of 12 through fractions of :23.39, :46.77 and 1:11.38 while receiving token pressure from Jenda’s Agenda. Hernandez had Valadorna racing in midpack and in the clear in the run down the backside and began picking off horses going into the far turn.

At the head of the stretch, Valadorna had moved into second and gradually wore down Apologynotaccepted to gain the victory.

The Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare win marked the first graded stakes victory for Valadorna, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Curlin out of the Yes It’s True mare Goldfield. The victory was worth $60,000 and increased Valadorna’s earnings to $558,920 with a record of 10-5-3-1.

Valadorna returned $8.80, $5.20 and $4. Apologynotaccepted, ridden by Julien Leparoux, returned $18.80 and $9.60 with Song of Spring finishing another half-length back in third under Joel Rosario and paying $6.20 to show.

It was another 1½ lengths back to Ministry in fourth with Promise of Spring, Tapa Tapa Tapa, Mines and Magic, Girl Talk, Well Humored, Someday Soon, Jenda’s Agenda and Julerette following in order.

Racing continues Saturday with a 10-race program beginning at 1:05 p.m. ET and highlighted by the 33rd running of the $250,000 Dixiana Elkhorn (G2) for older horses going 1½ miles on the grass. The Dixiana Elkhorn will be the afternoon’s ninth race with a 5:30 p.m. post time.
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On Saturday, Keeneland will offer a Pick 6 carryover of $22,573.

Quotes from the $100,000 Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare (G3)

Click here for a replay of the race

Brian Hernandez Jr. (winning rider of Valadorna)
“It looked like quite a bit of speed (in the race). The two fillies to my inside were pretty cranked up going into the (starting) gate. I thought if I let (Valadorna) leave there running, she’d get us in a good spot. She did the rest for us. All the credit goes to (trainer) Mark (Casse) and (assistant trainer) David (Carroll) and the whole Casse team for giving us enough horse to get a shot (at a win).”
On racing wide around the final turn
“Going around the second turn, I figured I’d be wide. As high as (David) was on her, I had a lot of confidence in her. I wanted to give her the smoothest, cleanest trip possible.”

David Carroll (assistant to winning trainer Mark Casse)
“(She is) just maturing. Over the winter, she filled out and got stronger. She won the stakes for us at Fair Grounds (Tiffany Lass in December). Disappointing race at Sam Houston (finishing sixth in the Houston Ladies Classic-G3) – just wasn’t her day. We shipped her back up here. She settled in beautifully, and she just blossomed. She was training beautifully. We would have been very disappointed if she didn’t perform today.
“I’d like to say congratulations to Mrs. (Barbara) Banke and all the connections at (breeder and owner) Stonestreet. They’re wonderful to train for. We’re just so proud of the filly.”

Julien Leparoux (rider of runner-up Apologynotaccepted)
“She ran good. We wanted to send her to the lead because that is the way she likes to run. She tried hard and she (barely) got beat. I wish we could have gone a little slower but that is how we decided to ride her even though there was a lot of speed in the race. It seems she runs better when she is on the lead. She was in a good spot and she tried hard.”

Joel Rosario (rider of third-place finisher Song of Spring)
“She broke OK, but kind of didn’t have a lot of speed. They sent them out of there a little bit and got away from me. I let her be happy there, and she made a nice run. When she was coming in the last part, I thought for a second we might have a chance to catch the winner. She ran a tremendous race. That was a good race for her.”

Jose Ortiz (rider of ninth-place finisher and beaten favorite Well Humored)
“Nothing went right today. She broke a little flat-footed and I was wide all the way out there. Not really an excuse – the winner was very wide all the way. (Well Humored) was kind of tough in the post parade. She wasn’t happy today; I don’t know what happened. She’s a nice filly; hopefully she’ll regroup and come back.”

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For more than 80 years, the Keeneland Association has devoted itself to the health and vibrancy of the Thoroughbred industry. As the world’s largest Thoroughbred auction company, Keeneland conducts sales every January, September and November. Its sales graduates dominate racing across the globe at every level. In April and October, Keeneland offers some of the highest caliber and richest Thoroughbred racing in the world. In 2015, Keeneland hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Uniquely structured, Keeneland is a private, for-profit corporation that returns its earnings to the industry and the community in the form of higher purses, and it has donated millions of dollars in charitable contributions for education, research and health and human services throughout Central Kentucky. To learn more about Keeneland, visit Keeneland.com.