Ignored by most of the punters at Finger Lakes on September 27th, Nyquist's two-year-old daughter Curly Girl didn't pay much attention to her 24-1 odds either as she won her first-ever stakes attempt in the Lady Fingers Stakes over six furlongs. She had just broken her maiden less than two weeks prior with a four-and-one-quarter-length maiden victory, also at the Farmington, New York oval.
Curly Girl broke alertly in the field of nine with jockey Andre Worrie positioning the juvenile filly towards the back of the pack down the backstretch. Saving ground most of the way on the rail as the field approached the half mile, Curly Girl was urged on as the field worked it's way through the final turn and responded nicely. She was able to split horses as the field turned for home and stayed on well to win by a couple of lengths.
An OBS sales grad this past March, Curly Girl was bred in New York by Denlea Park, Ltd. Her dam, the Forest Wildcat mare Falconess, has produced five starters, four of which are winners. Falconess is also a half-sister to G2 winner Spice Island, dam of G1 Florida Derby winner Ice Box. Second dam, Crown of Sheba, is a half to Eclipse Champion and G1 Kentucky Derby winner Spend a Buck.
The leading first crop sire of 2020, Nyquist's other Stakes winners include 2020 Eclipse Champion two-year-old filly Vequist, winner of the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies; fellow G1 winner Gretzky the Great, Sovereign Award champion two-year-old; and recent $500,000 Aristocratic Stakes winner Turnerloose at Kentucky Downs. Nyquist's four first-crop juvenile G1 horses last year has only been matched by Bernardini, Congrats, and Capote.
