Fun and Feisty swept past all her rivals in the stretch on her way to posting a three-and-a-half length victory in the G3 Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs on Saturday, 17 September.
The two-year-old filly by Midshipman, who was making her Stakes debut in the mile-and-one-sixteenth contest, improved her record to two wins and a second-place finish in four career starts.
Ridden patiently by jockey Julien Leparoux, Fun and Feisty was content to race at the rear of the field early, as Grand Love and Friendlypersuasion battled up front. Fun and Feisty launched her rally while racing four-wide on the far turn, quickly making up ground on the longtime leaders. At the top of the lane Fun and Feisty was under a full head of steam and came charging down the center of the course, sweeping past Grand Love and taking command with less than a furlong to run. She continued to draw off nearing the wire to win quite comfortably.
Fun and Feisty was bred in Kentucky by J. Stephen McDonald and is out of the unraced First Samurai mare, Grouse Grind. Fun and Feisty, who was purchased by trainer Ken McPeek for $100,000 out of the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Yearling sale, hails from the immediate family of Multiple Graded Stakes winners Darn That Alarm (G2), Fairbanks (G2), Strong Performance (G2) and Keats (G2).
Fun and Feisty is one of three juvenile Stakes winners for her sire, Midshipman, just in the past month. In addition to the Pocahontas winner, Midshipman has also sired Top Recruit, winner of the Ellis Park Juvenile, and Back to Ohio, winner of the Best of Ohio Miss Ohio Stakes. Midshipman is also represented by 2022 Graded Stakes winners Royal Ship (G2) and Fortino (G1 in Chile).
