Velvet Beretta gave Cyberknife his first winner in style, rolling clear by 3 lengths in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies on the dirt at Ellis Park. The first-time starter did it in her career debut for trainer Michel Douaihy and owner Mana Racing, turning a first-out win into an immediate marker for Spendthrift Farm’s freshman sire.
The timing matters because Cyberknife is not just another new name on the stallion roster. The Grade 1 winner of the Arkansas Derby and Haskell Stakes stands at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, and his 2026 fee is listed at $15,000 stands and nurses. A first winner from the opening crop gives breeders and buyers a live result to weigh against the pedigree-page promises that usually carry a young sire through the early part of the season.
Velvet Beretta’s effort offered more than a simple box-score win. She was sent off at 15-1, tracked in third before making her move, and finished off the field with enough authority to suggest she was not relying only on gate speed. That matters with juveniles. When a Cyberknife filly can handle a debut route to the wire at 5 1/2 furlongs and finish three lengths in front, it gives his backers something tangible to study: early professionalism, enough pace to stay within range, and enough finish to separate when asked.
Her pedigree adds another layer. Velvet Beretta was bred by Stoneriggs Farm out of Make Me Laugh, a Distorted Humor daughter who is a half sister to stakes-placed Hayworth. Make Me Laugh is out of Glamorista, a graded-placed winner and a half sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Critical Eye, and the family also includes 2024 Breeders’ Cup Mile winner More Than Looks. For a first-crop sire trying to establish himself in a crowded market, that kind of female family strengthens the profile of the first winner and makes the result more than a one-off debut score.
Equibase listed the race as a maiden special weight for fillies two years old, with the 5 1/2-furlong dirt trip at Ellis Park carrying a current track record of 1:02.31, set by Spycraft on July 10, 2021. Velvet Beretta did not need anything close to that kind of clock to make the point for Cyberknife. The point was already made: his first crop is on the track, and at least one of them can win right away.
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