Good Cheer? Great Cheer? Perfect Cheer!
Cruising home over a sloppy track at Churchill Downs, Good Cheer extended her record to a 7-for-7 Friday afternoon with a seemingly effortless 2 1/4-length victory in the $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) for 3-year-old fillies.
Ignoring the packed grandstand, the packed field and ankle-deep mud, courtesy of a passing thunderstorm that briefly halted racing and turned the track into what looked like chocolate mousse, the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro was patiently handled by Luis Saez. The jockey allowed the Godolphin homebred to relax just towards the back of the pack as La Cara led through early fractions of 22.58, 46.78 and 1:11.36.
Moving up five wide on the far turn, Saez unleashed Good Cheer at the head of the lane, and the filly set sail down the middle of the stretch, taking command with a furlong to go and leaving the rest of the field floundering in her wake as she hit the wire in 1:50.15 for the 1 1/8 miles over the wet-fast track.
Drexel Hill, 32-1, was second, 1 ¼ lengths ahead of 17-1 Bless the Broken.
Good Cheer stays perfect in the Kentucky Oaks!! 🌸🏆@bradcoxracing @luissaezpty @godolphin
🎥 TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/oSv5L4EJm2
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) May 2, 2025
Good Cheers is now 4-for-4 at Churchill Downs, including a 17-length romp in an allowance race over a similarly sloppy surface as a 2-year-old.
“Luis did a good job of keeping her engaged early and keeping her in the clear,” said trainer Brad Cox, whose earlier Oaks victories include Monomoy Girl (2018) and Shedaresthedevil (2020) “Looks like she got plenty of mud on her but keeping her in the clear was a positive.”
“I knew she’d keep coming,” said Cox of her run to the wire. “She’s awesome. She’s so classy to deal with. I’ve said it for months. She’s so good. She’s 7-for-7. She’s a perfect cheer.”
Good Cheer’s resume, now aglow with her first Grade 1 victory, includes Grade 2 wins in the Fair Grounds Oaks, the Rachel Alexandra and the Golden Rod, a 4 ¾-length triumph om the listed Rags to Riches at Churchill Downs, a maiden win by 8 ¼ lengths last August at the Indiana Horseshoe, and the aforementioned allowance victory.
Her combined winning margin for those races is 44 ½ lengths.
“If you see her, she’s not so big, and you’d [never think] she’d have that kind of heart, but this filly is something else,” said Saez.
Good Cheer returned $4.78 for a $2 win bet, and with the winner’s purse of $855,600 almost doubled her career earnings to $1,733,230.
Following Bless the Broken under the wire were Tenma, Anna’s Promise, second choice Quietside, Quickick, Early On, La Cara, Ballerina d’Oro, Fondly, Take Charge Milady, and Simply Joking.
