Lael Stables’ LUV YOUR NEIGHBOR (Constitution) competes in the Grade 2 Rachael Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds on Saturday, February 14, a final stepping-stone for the prestigious Fair Grounds Oaks. Those races are also the New Orleans preps for the Kentucky Oaks (G1) on the first Friday in May at Churchill Downs.
Bred in St. Thomas, Ontario, by David Anderson’s Anderson Farms and 552727 Ontario Ltd., Luv Your Neighbor will wear blinkers for the first time and has a new jockey in Luis Saez following her third straight second-place finish in a photo. Trained by Michael Stidham, who brought the Ontario-bred Tom’s Magic to Woodbine last year to finish second in the King’s Plate and win the Breeders’ Stakes, Luv Your Neighbor was recently second by a neck to Taken By the Wind in the Silverbulletday Stakes. In that race, the winner set a slow pace and Luv Your Neighbor was a game runner-up after tracking the pace. Before that, the bay three-year-old filly was second by a head in the Untapable Stakes and second by half a length in an optional claiming/allowance race.
A debut winner last fall, Luv Your Neighbor came for one race at Woodbine on the Tapeta, the Glorious Song Stakes, but she finished seventh.
In the Rachael Alexandra, Luv Your Neighbor has post 6 in the eight-filly field. Godolphin’s BELLA BALLERINA is undefeated in two races and won the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill last November for trainer Brendan Walsh. Bella Ballerina, by Street Sense, has post 3.
Luv Your Neighbor was a $350,000 yearling purchase from the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Her dam, Disobedient (Into Mischief), won two of four races and is a half-sister to Smart Halo Stakes winner Cap Classique. Disobedient’s first foal is multiple stakes-placed Faber.
The Rachael Alexandra Stakes is part of a stakes-filled card at Fair Grounds on Saturday that includes a major three-year-old race, the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes.
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