Exotics Plays for the First Lady Stakes

A deep, accomplished field of 11 fillies and mares will travel one mile on Keeneland's grass in Saturday’s $800,000 First Lady (G1). The race lacks a standout, in my opinion, and it seems like the type of race where it would be wise to spread with multiple runners in. 

First Lady Exotics

• $2 exacta box 2,3,9,10 ($24)
• $3 trifecta 2,3 with 2,3 with 9,10 ($12)
• 10-cent superfecta 2,3 with 2,3,9,10 with 2,3,9,10 with all ($9.60)

#2 Lush Lips (8-1), one of two Grade 1 queens in the field for trainer Brendan Walsh, was a convincing winner of the Queen Elizabeth II (G1) in her lone local run in the fall and will be making her third outing of the season on Saturday. Purchased for $3.7 million in November, the four-year-old has put in a pair of nice efforts leading up to this, and I expect her to run her best race of 2026 on Saturday. The bay has a nice draw near the rail to save some ground throughout the tilt and will never be far back under regular pilot Tyler Gaffalione. 

Group 3 heroine #3 Mandanba (7-2) was second in the Just A Game (G1) in her U. S. debut two back and has been very good on multiple occasions in her eight-race career. The Graffard pupil had what appeared to be a nice prep for her stateside return with a Group 2 second in Germany last time and could be the one with Umberto Rispoli taking the reins. 

#9 Classic Q (10-1), one of two in the field for Mark Casse, has been very good in her last four tries and also put in a big effort in her only prior run on this course. The Classic Empire four-year-old is five-for-10 at the distance in her lifetime and will be forcing the tempo from the break under regular rider John Velazquez. 

#10 Bless the Broken (12-1) toppled a nice cast in the lucrative Ladies Turf (G2) at Kentucky Downs in her grassy debut last time and could be any kind on Saturday. The Brad Cox trainee has a lot of class to her and could have found that grass is her favored surface last time out. Brian Hernandez, Jr. will be in the stirrups.