Neighborly Luv!

It's turning out to be the summer of Stidham! First, Maycocks Bay runs away with the G2 Eclipse Stakes up at Woodbine, and then Lael Stables' Luv Your Neighbor (pictured) claims a well-deserved first stakes victory with a classy win in the G3 Delaware Oaks over the weekend.

Given a peach of a patient ride by Luis Saez, Luv Your Neighbor was well-positioned on the heels of the leaders headed into the home turn before she kicked into gear and drew away down the stretch to win by a cozy length and a quarter.

While this was Luv Your Neighbor's first stakes victory, she's put up a helluva record this season of top class performances, one after another, including a standout turn in the G2 Eight Belles Stakes in her prior race. She's long deserved a win like this one.

This three-year-old daughter of Constitution is as tough as they come, and is stamping herself as a standout of her sex this year. And what a great advertisement for the barn!

“She has run against the very best 3-year-old fillies and it was just a matter of time before she got her day and today was the day,” Stidham explained, after the race. “Saez has ridden her multiple times and he has gotten to know her. In a couple of her races, he has kind of used her to be close to the pace. Today, he sat a little bit off of it and he made his move when he needed to do it.”

“I have trained a lot of nice fillies over the years and this is one who has a constitution you would not believe. She is in good physical condition after a lot of hard races and shipping.”

The stable doubled-up with a lovely first-time up winner yesterday, courtesy of Walmac Farm's Morikawa, who showed a lot of tenacity to eke out a head victory at Presque Isle Downs.

This three-year-old son of Gun Runner was slowly away, but Antonio Gallardo didn't rush him, and when they hit the stretch, the young colt showed tremendous guts to battle all the way to the line.

Morikawa evidently has a huge future ahead of him, and can step up again with this eye-catching debut performance.