From an Ocala Breeze to the Keeneland Turf: Lael Stables' $550,000 Corniche Filly Makes Her Debut

Earlier this year in Ocala, the filly Tannhauser, by Corniche, breezed in :9.4. It was the kind of work that gets a filly noticed during Florida's two-year-old sale season. Lael Stables paid $550,000 for her. On Saturday the operation gave her a first start on the grass at Keeneland. She is Virginia-bred, so this filly from the Old Dominion was prepared in Central Florida and started her career in the Bluegrass. That makes three regions of the American Thoroughbred world in a single season. For readers who follow the breeze shows, the line is easy to trace: a quick, clean work under the Ocala sun, a strong price in the ring, and a debut at one of the country's best-loved autumn meets. A good buy only becomes a good racehorse once she gets to the races, and Saturday was her first step. Lael Stables chose the turf for that step, and Keeneland's grass course in October is a fine place to start.

With reporting from Thoroughbred Daily News.