First race in nearly six months? No worries! Trainer Phil Schoenthal had Fly ready for her 3-year-old debut. The daughter of Brilliant Speed flew down the stretch in a five and a half-furlong turf allowance at Laurel Park on Saturday, April 29, held off nine rivals and scored by a length and a half. It was the second career win for the filly owned by Dark Hollow Farm, Arnold and Susie Davidov, Cal MacWilliam, Neil Teitelbaum, Rick Wallace and Kingdom Bloodstock – she broke her maiden first-time out in August at Laurel.

The final foal out of Breeders’ Cup Sprint-G1 champion Desert Stormer (by Storm Cat), Schoenthal picked out the Kentucky-bred filly at the Keeneland September Yearling sale, spending $80,000. With a record of 5-2-1-0, Fly has earnings of $66,060, and stakes opportunities in the future. The filly missed blacktype by a nose in her second career start when fourth in the historic Selima Stakes over the Laurel turf last September.

Fly is a half-sister to Sahara Gold, a graded stakes winner of $248,742 and dam of multiple Grade 1-winning millionare Better Lucky and graded winner Sahara Heat; and stakes-placd Ensenada, a $1.8 million sales yearling who is the dam of multiple graded winner Casino Host. The elegant dark bay filly learned her early lessons with Steuart Pittman’s Dodon Farm in Maryland and Cary Frommer in South Carolina before joining Schoenthal’s Laurel-based stable. Now the sky’s the limit!