Good Cheer proved to be much the best as she extended her career undefeated streak to seven wins in the May 2 Kentucky Oaks with Luis Saez aboard. (Eclipse Sportswire)
The Godolphin homebred extended her perfection to seven wins in as many starts for trainer Brad Cox, who captured his third Oaks after previous triumphs with Monomoy Girl (2018) and Shedaresthedevil (2020). This year’s Oaks winner had blown through her first six starts by a combined 42 ¼ lengths.
The daughter of Medaglia d’Oro out of the multiple Grade 1-winning mare Wedding Toast was patiently and confidently ridden in mid-pack by jockey Luis Saez. When he signaled it was time for the serious running to begin, his mount responded with an overpowering five-wide move on a sealed track turned wet fast by a severe late-afternoon storm.
Saez said he dreamed of winning races such as the Kentucky Oaks, the premier race for 3-year-old fillies, when he was in jockey school. “It just feels so special,” the native of Panama said. He previously won the Oaks with Secret Oath in 2022.
Longshot Drexel Hill uncorked a prolonged rally to get up for second. Bless the Broken took third. Good Cheer completed the mile-and-an-eighth distance in 1:50.15.
An ideal pace setup aided Good Cheer’s first Grade 1 score. Expected pacesetter La Cara and jockey Dylan Davis shot to the front but could not shake Tenma, also ridden aggressively by Juan Hernandez. They took the 13-horse field through an opening quarter-mile of 22.58 seconds and a robust half-mile that went in 46.78 seconds.
Saez sat chilly, knowing the horsepower beneath him. “She’s not that big and you never thought she’d have that kind of heart,” he said. “But this filly is something else.”
Cox, a Louisville native, shared his rider’s confidence as he watched the action unfold. “I knew she’d keep coming. She’s so awesome,” he said during a post-race interview on NBC. “She’s Super Cheer.”
Good Cheer wasted no time flashing her ability and proving she could handle distance. The bay filly broke her maiden by 8 ¼ lengths at one mile on Aug. 5. “She always passed the eyeball test,” Cox said.
Her affinity for Churchill Downs became readily apparent when she controlled her next three starts there. She dominated a 1 1/16-mile allowance race beneath the famed Twin Spires by a whopping 17 lengths. She then took down the Rags to Riches Stakes and the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes by 4 ¾ and 2 ½ lengths, respectively, to close a rousing 2-year-old campaign.
Good Cheer made an ideal transition to 3, winning twice at Fair Grounds in New Orleans as a set-up for the Oaks. She coasted home by 6 ¼ lengths for Saez in the Grade 2 Fasig-Tipton Rachel Alexandra Stakes. She was then a comfortable 3 ½ lengths in the clear in the Grade 2 Fasig-Tipton Fair Grounds Oaks on March 22.
Good Cheer wears the Oaks lilies. (Eclipse Sportswire)
Still, there were some concerns ahead of the Kentucky Oaks. “People were kind of knocking her speed figures coming in,” Cox said. “They were good, but there was no separation with her and some of the other fillies.”
Cox had another concern stemming from the Fair Grounds Oaks when Good Cheer was of less than good cheer in the paddock. She seemed to be a little more on edge than his trainer would have liked.
That issue disappeared at Churchill Downs. “She schooled here perfect and she was perfect in the paddock,” Cox noted.
His penchant for developing talented fillies is readily apparent following his previous successes. Cox, with time on his side at age 45, is only two wins shy of equaling Woody Stephens and D. Wayne Lukas for the all-time Oaks lead.
Michael Banahan, Godolphin’s director of bloodstock, was quick to salute Cox and his team. “They’ve done an outstanding job with her,” he said. “We know how difficult it is to keep a horse, any horse, undefeated. And to be able to do that and win at the top level like this is fantastic.”
It only added to Godolphin’s big day that Good Cheer is a homebred, a reflection of the vast resources founder Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum committed with an eye toward the international prominence the operation now enjoys.
“He’s given us the resources to have a broodmare band like we have,” Banahan said. “This is a very special filly, being by one of our stallions (Medaglia d’Oro) as well. A mare that we raised, too, in Wedding Toast. So it’s been a special, special day.”
Can Good Cheer be great?
“The word I just keep going back to is her level of class,” Cox said. “She’s just incredibly easy to deal with. She’s easy to train. She listens to her rider. She’s easy to be around. Very, very sound filly.”
