Blind Luck tracked down Evening Jewel in the final yards to win the $500,000 Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs.
The heavy 6-5 favorite trailed early before roaring down the stretch to catch Evening Jewel at the wire in the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies.
"This horse does this over and over, she gives you heart failure coming down the lane,'' said co-owner Mark DeDomenico.
It was the third victory in the filly version of the Kentucky Derby for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Blind Luck, ridden by jockey Rafael Bejarano, paid $4.60, $3.60 and $2.80 while covering the distance in 1:50.70.
"I knew my filly, right at the wire she pulled ahead,'' Bejarano said. "I was not for sure 100 percent, but I was 99 percent.''
Hollendorfer hardly brimmed with the same confidence, particularly after his horse lagged behind the field when it zipped past the packed grandstand for the first time.
"I was real concerned,'' Hollendorfer said. "But there was no panic button pushed.''
Instead, Bejarano went to work. A half-mile in he nudged her to the outside to give her some room. He did it again after going six-wide in the stretch and Blind Luck took off.
"I know she was going to have a real big kick in the end,'' Bejarano said.
Evening Jewel and jockey Kent Desormeaux came within a head-bob of pulling off the upset and paid $9.40 and $7.20. Tidal Pool, under Calvin Borel, was third and paid $5.
A year after superstar Rachel Alexandra obliterated the field to win by a record 20 1/4 lengths, the margin was decidedly closer this time.
Like, say, a nostril.
Evening Jewel rated just off the lead before taking charge at the top of the stretch then dug in as Desormeaux tried to pull his second stunner of the day. He and Unrivaled Belle outdueled Rachel Alexandra in the La Troienne Stakes earlier Friday, a performance that left the Hall of Fame jockey playfully flexing his muscles after stunning the Horse of the Year.
Not this time.
Blind Luck doesn't have Rachel Alexandra's raw power. She's a closer who outlasts rivals. She had just enough to provide a thrilling finish in front of a record Oaks crowd at the sun-splashed track.
Rachel Alexandra used her Oaks victory as a springboard to the Preakness, where she beat the boys. Hollendorfer, who co-owns Blind Luck, isn't ready to head to Pimlico in two weeks.
"I would say we probably wouldn't do that,'' Hollendorfer said.
Hollendorfer won the Oaks with Lite Light in 1991 and Pike Place Dancer in 1996.
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas was hoping to tie an Oaks record by collecting his fifth victory. Yet Tidal Pool cooled after setting the early pace and was a distant third behind the theatrics at the front.
