Robert and Lawana Low's Spice Is Nice passed an important test May 14 when she posted her first graded stakes win, capturing the $150,000 Allaire DuPont Distaff Match Series Stakes (G3) for fillies and mares at Pimlico Race Course.
But it never would have happened if the daughter of Curlin had not "passed" something else last year.
It all started last August when the grade 2-placed Spice Is Nice was entered in the Alabama Stakes (G1) and the 12-length winner of her debut in January was sent off as the 3-1 second choice. Heads were scratched after she finished 39 1/2 lengths behind the victorious Swiss Skydiver.
Afterwards, something seemed amiss with the million-dollar-yearling buy. Her appetite was off, and she was losing weight.
Trainer Todd Pletcher sent her to Taylor Made Farm, where concern about her well-being mounted as her weight loss reached 100 pounds.
"We couldn't figure out what was wrong with her," Robert Low said.
Then one day, a farm worker noticed something strange in a pile of manure in her stall. It was a lead shank, which Spice Is Nice had somehow digested.
"They found this piece of rope that she had passed," Low said.
Once that blockage was out of her system, her health and racetrack results returned to normal. She won an April 9 allowance optional claimer at Keeneland to start her 4-year-old campaign and followed it up with Friday's 1 1/2-length victory over Full of Run Racing and Madaket Stables' Dreamalildreamofu.
"After she came through that, she put weight back on and trained as well as ever," Pletcher said. "We got the perfect allowance race for her and then we circled this one on the calendar. She got this important graded stakes win, and now we hope she can continue to climb up the ladder."
The win was the fourth in seven starts for Spice Is Nice and lifted her earnings to $254,528. She was bought for $1,050,000 by West Bloodstock and the Lows from the Stone Farm consignment at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Bred by Bobby Flay Thoroughbreds, she is the first foal from grade 1 winner Dame Dorothy, who has also produced a 2-year-old Medaglia d'Oro colt and a yearling Uncle Mo colt.
The race was a two-horse duel throughout as Spice Is Nice and Dreamalildreamofu battled on the front through fractions of :23.54, :47.62, and 1:11.15 before they spurted 5 1/2 lengths clear of the rest of the field in midstretch.
The 2-1 second choice, Spice Is Nice ($6.60) pulled away late to cover the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.71 under John Velazquez.
"She kind of fooled with the horse inside of her, but she was waiting," Velazquez said. "We always liked this filly since she was very young. She's a big filly. She's kind of come back better this year. She's stronger mentally and kind of put it all together."
For some rather messy reasons.
Dreamalildreamofu, a 4-year-old daughter of Commissioner trained by Brad Cox, was two lengths ahead of her stablemate, The Elkstone Group's Getridofwhatailesu, a Ghostzapper 5-year-old.
Horologist, the 8-5 favorite, was fourth.
