Pigalle became BLAME’s newest stakes winner on Sunday with a Groupie Doll Stakes victory at Ellis Park.
The filly raced second-to last in the one-mile dirt race after a tough start but wasn’t far behind the leader in the tightly packed field. Jockey Luan Machado let the filly make her own way during the first three quarters of the race before angling her five wide as they raced into the stretch.
She stayed close to that path throughout the stretch run to rally and get up just in time to win by a neck in the end.
The Claiborne homebred trained by Thomas Drury Jr. has finished in the top two in eight of her 10 starts and was making her stakes debut here.
The filly is one of two winners from two to race out of the winning Heels, a sister to BLAME’s fourth place finisher Penalty. Four of Pigalle’s first five dams are now stakes producers with her fifth dam the stakes winner and prolific broodmare Fun Flight.
It’s been a big week for BLAME, who was the damsire of a $300,000 WAR FRONT filly at this week’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. He also saw his daughter’s Cinder Block finish third in the Bald Eagle Derby earlier this month.