A Fine Chardonnay Rallies for Impressive Myrtlewood Stakes Victory
A Fine Chardonnay delivered a stunning last-to-first performance to capture the Dean Dorton Myrtlewood Stakes at Keeneland on Thursday, giving her connections a perfect two-for-two record with their first racehorse.
The Maclean’s Music filly, who stunned bettors as a 45-1 longshot in her Churchill Downs debut last month, went off at a much more respected 2-1 in this $250,000 stakes event after displaying strong works since her maiden victory.
Breaking evenly with the field, A Fine Chardonnay quickly found herself at the back of the pack as TDN Rising Star On Time Girl (Not This Time) contested the lead through a half-mile in :46.03. The Ian Wilkes trainee remained last around the turn before launching a powerful wide rally down the stretch.
With a full head of steam, A Fine Chardonnay overhauled the leaders at the sixteenth pole and edged away to win by a length. On Time Girl held second, while Woodstock (Yaupon) finished third.
“It’s almost impossible to even think about being at this point in our lives, and to win our first two races with our first horse,” said Philip Griesinger of Double 22 Stables, celebrating their first win as sole owners. “It’s just incredible. I just wish my son, who’s my partner, and my family were here with me. I just can’t put it into words. It’s just amazing.”
Griesinger admitted to concerns when his filly dropped so far back early.
“I probably can’t say on air (what I was thinking when she dropped so far back in the race), but I looked at Ian and he said, ‘She’s fine, she’s fine,’ and then Charlie, the farm manager, said, ‘You’ve got this.’ And that’s when I started to go ballistic,” Griesinger said. “I’m going to (celebrate with) a couple bottles (of a fine chardonnay). I’m not going to feel good tomorrow.”
Trainer Ian Wilkes acknowledged he didn’t initially expect this level of performance from the filly.
“Would I have thought she was this kind? No. I’m going to have to say no,” Wilkes said. “She did work good going into the first race, but she didn’t train the way she trained coming into this race. I was quite comfortable (with how far back she was) because they were all going, and she was traveling–she looked good to travel. I watched her work, and her turn of foot to finish is really good.”
A Fine Chardonnay is the last registered offspring for her dam Andele before the mare was exported to Turkey. She is the sixth winner produced by Andele, who is a half-sister to GSW Northern Causeway (Giant’s Causeway) and to the dam of GISW Du Jour (Temple City).
Her second dam Getaway Girl (Silver Deputy) is a half-sister to Horse of the Year Ghostzapper (Awesome Again) and GISW City Zip (Carson City). That trio descends from 2005 Broodmare of the Year Baby Zip (Relaunch), whose half-brother was a champion imported handicap horse in Turkey.
The $85,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale purchase has now earned $222,363 from her two victories.
🥂 #6 A FINE CHARDONNAY ($6.26) and @Tyler_Gaff go last-to-first in the $250,000 Myrtlewood Stakes at @KeenelandRacing. The juvenile Maclean's Music filly is trained by @IanWilkesRacing. pic.twitter.com/5RMBpLk93C
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing)
🥂 #6 A FINE CHARDONNAY ($6.26) and October 24, 2025
