A pair of full siblings to Breeders' Cup winners square off in a competitive six-furlong maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies Aug. 23 at Ellis Park.
Elite and Fashion Designer, both daughters of six-time leading sire Into Mischief , will make their debuts for trainers Rodolphe Brisset and Brad Cox, respectively.
A homebred for Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, Elite is produced from the Mr. Greeley mare Flawless, the dam of 2020 Horse of the Year and Spendthrift Farm stallion Authentic . Although Blum sold Authentic ($350,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale) and his full brother, the winning Bushin ($800,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale), the breeder has held onto Flawless' youngest fillies—a 3-year-old unraced Into Mischief filly named Priceless, and Elite.
Elite has so far shown a fair deal of precocity in the mornings for the Brisset barn. Three of the bay's last four breezes at Keeneland have been bullet works, with the latest move being a :47 half-mile from the gate Aug. 16. While her older brother Authentic became a star at 3 with top-level victories in the 2020 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), the Bob Baffert trainee wouldn't debut until November of his juvenile year at Del Mar.
Jockey Luan Machado will pilot Elite from post 6 in the field of 12.
Drawing the outer 12 hole in her debut is Gary and Mary West's Fashion Designer, a full sister to four-time grade 1 winner and 2021 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) hero Life Is Good .
Though the Wests sold Life Is Good through the Paramount Sales consignment for $525,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the couple has retained all of the subsequent foals produced from the Distorted Humor mare Beach Walk. The Wests campaigned the mare's Candy Ride colt, Most Wanted, through a successful racing career that resulted in wins in the 2024 Oklahoma Derby (G3) and Ellis Park Derby.
While Life Is Good was trained primarily by Todd Pletcher, Fashion Designer was sent to the barn of Brad Cox, the conditioner of Most Wanted. Beginning the spring and summer training at Keeneland, the bay was then moved to Cox's string at Churchill Downs, where she breezed a bullet five furlongs from the gate in 1:01 Aug. 12.
Ellis Park's current leading rider, Tyler Gaffalione, has the call.
The race will go off as race 4 at 1:16 p.m. CT on the penultimate card of Ellis Park's summer race meeting.
