El Joury (Medaglia d’Oro x Up (IRE)) edged out a victory as Brendan Walsh Racing’s final runner at Keeneland final day of action. The two-year-old filly showed good improvement following her first two runs, which was evident in her gutsy performance today.
The filly wore blinkers for the first time in this race; a Maiden Special Weight over one and one-eighth miles. She broke nicely from the outside post and showed good early speed to cut across the field and relax into the two path just behind the leader. The filly tracked the leader through the backstretch in a lovely rhythm for jockey Tyler Gaffalione. El Joury continued to chase the leader around the turn and into the home stretch before she advanced to first at the sixteenth pole. The filly continued to dig deep to find the finish and repelled challengers on both sides to secure the win by a nose.
This filly was a 1.1 million dollar yearling purchase by Shadwell Racing at the 2023 Keeneland September Sale. We are very pleased to secure a win for Shadwell – congratulations to all involved with this progressive filly!
