On Saturday, Good Cheer made her seasonal debut in the Fasig-Tipton Rachel Alexandra Stakes (USA-G2). If there was any rust on the Brad Cox trainee since her last outing, a comfortable win in the Golden Rod Stakes (USA-G2) over the 2024 Thanksgiving weekend, it wasn’t apparent. Facing a short field of three rivals, Good Cheer never looked like anything but a winner and galloped in by 6¼ lengths to keep her unbeaten record intact. She now has 70 points toward a starting berth in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1), topping the Oaks leaderboard.
Cox insists that they “don’t make races long enough” for his filly, and on paper, there is absolutely no reason to believe that Good Cheer cannot go as far as 3-year-old fillies are asked to go on dirt in the United States. The Godolphin homebred is by a well-proven sire of two-turn horses in Medaglia d’Oro, who won the 2002 Travers Stakes (USA-G1) during his own racing days and is already the sire of Kentucky Oaks winners Rachel Alexandra and Plum Pretty. Her dam is Wedding Toast, a daughter of 2007 Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) winner Street Sense who scored a handy win in the 2015 Beldame Stakes (USA-G1) over 9 furlongs. If further evidence is needed as to Good Cheer’s likely distance capacity, Wedding Toast previously produced listed stakes winner Ya Hayati (by Dubawi), whose average winning distance is 9.17 furlongs.
Wedding Toast is out of unraced Golden Sheba, whose sire, the quirky but talented Coronado’s Quest, emulated his sire Forty Niner (the American champion juvenile of 1987) by winning the Travers Stakes ten years after Forty Niner’s gritty triumph over Seeking the Gold. Produced from Mari’s Sheba, Golden Sheba is a half sister to Arazi’s best son, Congaree, who won five Grade 1 races at distances from 7 to 10 furlongs. She is also a half sister to stakes winner Sangaree (by Awesome Again) and to Mari’s Thunder (by Thunder Gulch), dam of listed stakes winner Storm Belt (by More Than Ready).
Mari’s Sheba herself ran third in the 1995 Santa Anita Oaks (USA-G1) over 8.5 furlongs but preferred shorter distances. A half sister to 1992 Austrian champion 3-year-old male Rubico (by Big Spruce), she is by the Northern Dancer horse Mari’s Book out of Sheba Little, a daughter of 1980 English champion miler Known Fact. This female line traces back to 1965 Oaks Stakes winner Long Look, a daughter of the stamina influence Ribot.
With last year’s champion 2-year-old filly, Immersive, on the sidelines due to bone bruising, Good Cheer’s primary rival for preeminence in her division thus far in the season is Tenma, who came home with equal ease over an even shorter field in the Las Virgenes Stakes (USA-G3) on February 2. With Tenma likely to stay in California for now while Good Cheer remains in the East, their paths are unlikely to cross prior to the Kentucky Oaks itself. One would like to see what they can do against larger fields of quality rivals before they get to the biggest target of the spring for sophomore fillies, but for now, they have done what has been asked of them with style, and they can hardly be blamed for not beating horses that were not there.
Cox insists that they “don’t make races long enough” for his filly, and on paper, there is absolutely no reason to believe that Good Cheer cannot go as far as 3-year-old fillies are asked to go on dirt in the United States. The Godolphin homebred is by a well-proven sire of two-turn horses in Medaglia d’Oro, who won the 2002 Travers Stakes (USA-G1) during his own racing days and is already the sire of Kentucky Oaks winners Rachel Alexandra and Plum Pretty. Her dam is Wedding Toast, a daughter of 2007 Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) winner Street Sense who scored a handy win in the 2015 Beldame Stakes (USA-G1) over 9 furlongs. If further evidence is needed as to Good Cheer’s likely distance capacity, Wedding Toast previously produced listed stakes winner Ya Hayati (by Dubawi), whose average winning distance is 9.17 furlongs.
Wedding Toast is out of unraced Golden Sheba, whose sire, the quirky but talented Coronado’s Quest, emulated his sire Forty Niner (the American champion juvenile of 1987) by winning the Travers Stakes ten years after Forty Niner’s gritty triumph over Seeking the Gold. Produced from Mari’s Sheba, Golden Sheba is a half sister to Arazi’s best son, Congaree, who won five Grade 1 races at distances from 7 to 10 furlongs. She is also a half sister to stakes winner Sangaree (by Awesome Again) and to Mari’s Thunder (by Thunder Gulch), dam of listed stakes winner Storm Belt (by More Than Ready).
Mari’s Sheba herself ran third in the 1995 Santa Anita Oaks (USA-G1) over 8.5 furlongs but preferred shorter distances. A half sister to 1992 Austrian champion 3-year-old male Rubico (by Big Spruce), she is by the Northern Dancer horse Mari’s Book out of Sheba Little, a daughter of 1980 English champion miler Known Fact. This female line traces back to 1965 Oaks Stakes winner Long Look, a daughter of the stamina influence Ribot.
With last year’s champion 2-year-old filly, Immersive, on the sidelines due to bone bruising, Good Cheer’s primary rival for preeminence in her division thus far in the season is Tenma, who came home with equal ease over an even shorter field in the Las Virgenes Stakes (USA-G3) on February 2. With Tenma likely to stay in California for now while Good Cheer remains in the East, their paths are unlikely to cross prior to the Kentucky Oaks itself. One would like to see what they can do against larger fields of quality rivals before they get to the biggest target of the spring for sophomore fillies, but for now, they have done what has been asked of them with style, and they can hardly be blamed for not beating horses that were not there.
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