How to bet the 2025 Falls City Stakes

A very good field of 10 fillies and mares will vie in Thursday’s $400,000 Falls City S. (G3) at Churchill Downs. The Thanksgiving feature will be run at 1 1/8 miles on the dirt, and #7 Royal Spa (3-1) gets a lot of my attention in the affair. Trained by Rodolphe Brisset, the Violence mare really likes the venue with an 8-4-2-0 lifetime line in Louisville, which includes a wire-to-wire triumph in the Locust Grove S. (G2) here in September. 

Falls City Wagers

• $4 trifecta key 7 with 2,4,10 ($24)
• 50-cent trifecta 7 with 2,4,10 with all ($12)
• 20-cent superfecta 4,7 with 4,7 with 2,10 with all ($5.60)

Her works have been swift leading up to the contest, and her versatility makes her very appealing, in general. The Kentucky-bred five-year-old will be forwardly placed in a field lacking a ton of early gas and should have a clean voyage from a good post with Tyler Gaffalione in the stirrups. 

The Brad Cox-trained #4 Alpine Princess (4-1), second to the top pick in the Locust Grove most recently, has run some of her fastest races on the oval and fits well in the group under Irad. The Classic Empire four-year-old has had trouble sealing the deal late at the graded stakes level, but she is often well placed in the stretch and makes a ton of sense as a top-three contender to me. 

#10 Regaled (5-2) didn’t surprise me when third in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) last time for Beckman. Purchased for $300,000 in May, the daughter of Mohaymen has won or placed in each of her seven offerings since having blinkers added, and she rallied into a moderate pace to be a clear third in the Locust Grove three back in her lone prior attempt on the strip, too. The filly is hard to back on top with total confidence due to her one-run closing style, but I will not omit her here, nonetheless. Joe Ramos retains the ride. 

Multiple Grade 1 heroine #2 Raging Sea (7-2) has been such a strong runner over the past few seasons, but hasn’t shown that same fire in three runs in succession in advance of the affair. The Chad Brown pupil did win a Grade 1 race on the course in May, and it’s difficult to ignore a horse with her resume combined with her connections. I’d be surprised to see her win the race, but I will use the Curlin mare in my vertical plays with Prat taking the reins.