BloodHorse
04/07/2023
Byron King
Trainer Kenny McPeek has long followed the "nothing ventured, nothing gained" maxim, a placement strategy that has led to some memorable graded stakes upsets.
The gray daughter of Cross Traffic pushed fractions of :23.62, :47.25, and 1:11.64 set by Effortlesslyelgant in the 1 1/16-mile race, took command in the stretch, and fended off stalking rallies from Punchbowl and Julia Shining . The winner was timed in 1:43.31 over a fast main track.
"When she turned for home she kicked on, and with the short stretch to the sixteenth pole, I was pretty confident in her," jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. said.
Defining Purpose is headed 70 miles down 1-64 to Churchill Downs in Louisville in the coming weeks, aimed at the May 5 Kentucky Oaks (G1), a race McPeek has yet to win. "I've been second three times, which is a little frustrating," McPeek said. "But you know, you can't hit anything if you're not in it."
Defining Purpose is in it, based on Kentucky Oaks qualifying points. She earned 100 points for Friday's victory, pushing her total to 107 and placing her third on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard heading into weekend racing.
Bred in Kentucky by Colette Marie VanMatre, Defining Purpose races for her breeder, James Ball, and McPeek's Magdalena Racing. She is the first foal to race out of the Strong Hope mare Defining Hope , a multiple-stakes winner against Indiana-breds. The dam's youngest foals include a 2-year-old Runhappy filly and a Csaba filly born this year.
Defining Purpose failed to meet reserve at public auction as a short yearling when consigned by Four Star Sales to the 2021 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale after bidding stalled at $14,000. The filly's other owners ultimately joined VanMatre to race her. "This filly's a rags-to-riches story," McPeek said of Defining Purpose, who has now won three of seven starts and $543,688. McPeek credited his staff, from Kentucky to Arkansas, for the filly's success.
