The nation’s leading sire Not This Time had another terrific Saturday with a pair of graded stakes winner, led by Bodacious Bay convincing score in the $1 million Cotillion S. (G1). The 3-year-old filly is the 15th lifetime Grade 1 winner for Not This Time.
A couple of hours later in the Dogwood S. (G3) at Churchill Downs, Conceit out-fought Grade 1 winner Explora to give Not This Time his graded double.
Making her Grade 1 debut after finishing second the Monmouth Oaks (G3) two months ago, Bodacious Bay tracked comfortably in second behind My Miss Mo until hitting the far turn, when she ramped up the pressure. She easily took the lead outside the quarter pole and easily held off Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Always a Runner to win by 3 ¼-lengths.
“This was a huge win, and I think next year we could have the best filly in the country,” said trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. “A lot of good fillies are going to retire, and our filly is just now getting good. The owners will talk it over and make a decision, but we feel like we have a filly that is hard to find these days. She is special.”
The winner is owned by C2 Racing Stable LLC, Miller Racing LLC, St Elias Stable, Mathis Stable LLC, BAG Racing Stables LLC, Carr Legacy Racing LLC and Steve Taub and was bred in Kentucky by Breffni Farm. The filly is now 2-3-0 in five starts and has earned $708,496.
At Churchill, Conceit ran her winning streak to three with a gritty effort to best Explora by a head in the seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies. Conceit took the Audubon Oaks in August and was a 10-length allowance winner at Churchill in last June.
“She’s a lightly raced filly and starting to really figure things out on the dirt,” said trainer Brad Cox after the race. “We know she tries hard and was going to come with a big run. We’re very thankful for Juddmonte for sending us another talented homebred of theirs and the future is very bright.”
Conceit is undefeated in three dirt track starts and is 4-1-1 in seven overall outings, with $434,883 in earnings.
