Percy’s Bar rides rail, beats Zany in Ashland

Apr 03, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Percy's Bar wins the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland. (Photo by Coady Media)

The last time Percy’s Bar ran at Keeneland, she crossed the wire first in the Oct. 3 Alcibiades (G1), only to be demoted to second for interference. In Friday’s $750,000 Ashland (G1) over the same track and 1 1/16-mile trip, the Hat Creek Racing runner again spurted away. But this time there was no controversy, and Percy’s Bar gained a deserved Grade 1 victory to propel herself into the Kentucky Oaks (G1).

On both occasions, Percy’s Bar was upstaging an odds-on favorite. In last fall’s Alcibiades, she beat Tommy Jo on the racetrack, but lost the race via disqualification in the stewards’ room.

In the Ashland, Zany was heavily favored at 3-5, with fans forecasting another win for the unbeaten daughter of American Pharoah. Percy’s Bar ranked as her main opponent, going off as the 5-2 second choice.

Zany might have had a recency advantage over Percy’s Bar, who had not raced since her third in the Oct. 31 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). Yet Percy’s Bar was on her home court of Keeneland, and the dynamics of the Ashland likely played to her strengths.

Trained by Ben Colebrook and ridden by Luan Machado, Percy’s Bar broke alertly from her inside post and tucked in a ground-saving spot just behind the pace. In contrast, Zany was off a beat slow, and as a result, she ended up covering extra ground to improve position as the race unfolded.

Meanwhile, pacesetter French Friction was carving out very slow fractions of :24.70, :50.37, and 1:15.24. Rounding the far turn, she left the door open for Percy’s Bar to dart through on the rail.

Percy’s Bar took full advantage to cut the corner into the stretch. The daughter of Upstart quickened away before Zany could get into gear wider out. Zany stayed on once she organized herself, but Percy’s Bar was easily best by 2 1/4 lengths.

An impressive performance by PERCY'S BAR in the @centralbankKY Ashland (G1)! Watch the full replay → pic.twitter.com/UBhtQaqVKm

— Keeneland Racing (@keenelandracing) April 3, 2026

By clocking 1:45.72, Percy’s Bar earned 100 points toward the Kentucky Oaks. Her total of 114 points puts her second on the leaderboard.

“It means a lot after (the Alcibiades disqualification),” said Machado, who has ridden Percy’s Bar in all of her races. “She deserved that win.”

“I’d still probably rather have the Alcibiades (win), too,” Colebrook said, “but this takes the sting out for sure. She deserved it more than anybody else, and my team and everybody else — that’s such a big part of everything that happens. It was a great ride by Luan (Machado), and it all came together.

“I think she could have had the lead today. I was kind of worried because the pace was so slow and she was kind of bottled up back there, but it looked like he always had horse; it was just whether he was going to get that seam. When he got half a seam, she was just gone. That was pretty impressive.”

“She was pretty (much) a handful all the way around there,” Machado noted, “and I was just holding her and waiting for some kind of room to let her go through. As soon as she got a little bit of a chance to make it through, I just gave it all to her, and she ran right through it. All credit to her and the whole team.”

Zany added 50 points to her ledger, as the clear runner-up in the strung-out field, for a total of 80. Trainer Todd Pletcher wasn’t disheartened by her first career loss.

“I thought she ran very well,” Pletcher said. “She was closing well at the end. We just didn’t have time going to the first wire to get up in time. But I liked the way she finished, I liked the way she was gaining at the end, I liked the way she galloped out. She got a good education in it, got a lot of kickback, got some cover, a lot of things that I think will help her (in the Oaks) at Churchill.”

Third-placer Star Actress, a full sister to champion and 2024 Oaks runner-up Just F Y I, banked 25 points in her stakes debut. Next came French Friction in fourth (15 points), Omaha Bay (10 points for a total of 20), and the tailed-off Hollybygolly. Nycon was scratched in favor of Saturday’s Gazelle (G3) at Aqueduct.

Percy’s Bar is now a millionaire with earnings of $1,015,121. She sports a mark of 6-3-2-1, including a sparkling debut victory at Keeneland last spring and a romp in the Debutante S. at Churchill Downs. The bay was also second to Tommy Jo in the Spinaway (G1) at Saratoga before their clash in the Alcibiades.

Bred by the late Brereton Jones, Percy’s Bar was sold for $52,000 as a yearling at Keeneland September. She is out of Honestly Deb, a mare by 2010 Kentucky Derby (G1) star Super Saver.