Kentucky Downs Near Miss Propels Rose Room Into Friday’s Jessamine
At 0h03, on October 3, 2025 • By Keeneland
An intriguing entrant in Friday’s $400,000 Jessamine (G2) Presented by Keeneland Sales is Godolphin homebred Rose Room, who arrived at Keeneland Thursday morning from trainer Mike Stidham’s base at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.
This is her second trip to Kentucky with the first being a near miss by a neck in finishing fourth in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies (L) going a mile on Aug. 31.
“Going down the backside, she was switching leads and trying to find her footing,” Stidham said. “Florent (Geroux) let her settle, but he didn’t know if he had any horse. He straightened her out for home, and here she comes. One more jump, and she wins it.”
Rose Room debuted at Delaware Park on Aug. 7, winning a 7½-furlong grass test by 2 lengths.
“We didn’t know early on what we had. She was not precocious,” Stidham said. “In her first race, she kicked in when she needed to, and we decided to take a shot at Kentucky Downs.
“She is a half to Pixelate, who won the (WinStar) Mint Millions (G3) in 2021, so we figured like brother, like sister. We were almost right.”
The 1 1/16-mile Jessamine Presented by Keeneland Sales is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race that awards the winner a fees-paid berth into the $1 million John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) going a mile on Oct. 31 at Del Mar.
