Nine fillies and mares will meet in the final graded stakes feature of Keeneland's spring meet, the $350,000 Bewitch Stakes (G3T).
The field for the 1 1/2-mile race includes five graded stakes winners, topped by Just Basking and Speed Shopper, who each have a graded stakes win under their belt for the 2026 season. Just Basking won the 1 3/8-mile The Very One Stakes (G3T) Feb. 28 at Gulfstream Park, and Speed Shopper secured a win in her first start of the year, the Jan. 24 Christophe Clement Stakes (G3T), also at Gulfstream. In their most recent effort, the pair finished a game fourth and third, respectively, behind Sultana in the March 28 Orchid Stakes (G3T).
Gary Barber, Bridlewood Farm, and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Speed Shopper, a 5-year-old daughter of Quality Road , will make her first start on the Keeneland turf Friday for trainer Will Walden. Her front-running style should play in her favor. She breaks from post 9 under John Velazquez.
Andrew Schwarz and Wendy Schwarz Gilder's Just Basking finished fourth in the Orchid Stakes, just a half-length behind Speed Shopper, in an evenly matched and competitive field. Trainer Ian Wilkes won last week's featured turf race, the Elkhorn Stakes (G2T), with Burnham Square.
Venencia, last year's Dowager Stakes (G3T) winner, will look to get back to her winning ways for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. The 6-year-old mare has been winless in her last three starts, finishing sixth in her most recent effort—The Very One Stakes.
Among the other top competitors in the field are Augustin Stables' Mrs. Astor, a three-time graded stakes winner. The 6-year-old daughter of Lookin At Lucky won the Astra Stakes at Santa Anita Park in her 2026 debut, and finished a game third in the March 15 Santa Ana Stakes (G3T). Jose Ortiz gets the call on Mrs. Astor.
C2 Racing Stable and BAG Racing Stables' dual Turfway Park stakes winner Literate will face a step up in class in Friday's race. She most recently finished fourth in the Latonia Stakes at Turfway March 21. Prior to that, she was seen winning the Wintergreen Stakes by 10 3/4 lengths.
The daughter of Oscar Performance makes her first start over the turf since her sixth-place finish in last year's E. P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine.
Back-to-back Tom Benson Memorial Stakes winner Way to Be Marie (Not This Time ), Resolute Racing's Virgin Colada, Triumphant Spirit, and Golden Sunshine round out the field.
Keeneland, Friday, April 24, 2026, Race 8Entries: Bewitch S. Presented by Keeneland Sales (G3T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Way to Be Marie (KY) Luis Saez 118 Eddie Kenneally 8/1 2 2Virgin Colada (KY) Flavien Prat 118 Michael J. Maker 12/1 3 3Venencia (FR) Tyler Gaffalione 120 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 10/1 4 4Triumphant Spirit (KY) Ben Curtis 118 Brendan P. Walsh 20/1 5 5Golden Sunshine (KY) Jaime A. Torres 118 Eoin G. Harty 20/1 6 6Mrs. Astor (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 120 Jonathan Thomas 4/1 7 7Just Basking (KY) Javier Castellano 120 Ian R. Wilkes 9/2 8 8Literate (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 118 Brad H. Cox 7/2 9 9Speed Shopper (KY) John R. Velazquez 120 William Walden 5/2
