Hat Creek Racing’s Kentucky-bred Percy’s Bar cruised to a 2 ¼-length victory to win the 89th running of the $750,000 Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland on April 3.
Trained by Ben Colebrook, Percy’s Bar completed the 1 1/16 miles on a track listed as good in 1:45.72. The victory in the first Grade 1 race of 2026 for 3-year-old fillies was worth 100 points on the Road to the $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks (G1), a race that is limited to the top 14-point earners that pass the entry box.
French Friction led the Ashland field of six early while Percy’s Bar hugged the rail with race favorite Zany in close contact to her outside. The pace picked up on the far turn with Percy’s Bar squeezing through a narrow opening. She quickly opened a daylight margin on her rivals, including Zany, and proved uncatchable late.
“She was pretty (much) a handful all the way around there and I was just holding her and waiting for some kind of room to let her go through,” said winning rider Luan Machado. “As soon as she got a little bit of a chance to make it through, I just gave it all to her and she ran right through it. All credit to her and the whole team.”
A Keeneland sales graduate, Percy’s Bar is a daughter of Upstart out of the Super Saver mare Honestly Deb. The $459,188 winner’s share of the Ashland purse increased Percy’s Bar’s earnings to $1,105,121.
Redemption for Percy’s Bar
The victory was redemption for Percy’s Bar, who was disqualified from victory at Keeneland last fall in the Alcibiades (G1) for interference in the stretch. The Ashland was her first start since a troubled third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Del Mar on Oct. 31. Percy’s Bar was bred in the Bluegrass by Brereton C. Jones.
“I’d still probably rather have the Alcibiades (win), too,” but this takes the sting out for sure,” said Ben Colebrook. “She deserved it more than anybody else, and my team and everybody else—that’s such a big part of everything that happens. It was a great by Luan and it all came together. That was pretty impressive.”