OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Michael Campbell told anybody who would listen that Patriot Spirit was going to run a big race in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Vosburgh Stakes at Aqueduct.
Apparently, a lot of people listened. Patriot Spirit, sent off as the 5-2 second choice in a field of nine – he was 5-1 on the morning-line – took over from the pacesetting Light the Way in upper stretch and held the late-running Crazy Mason at bay to win the Vosburgh by 1 1/2 lengths and earn his way to the $2
million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1. The Vosburgh was part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series that awarded an automatic fees-paid berth into the Sprint.

“I expected the effort,” said the 75-year-old Campbell, who said he’s been training horses since 1972. “I don’t want to sound pompous because I know it’s difficult to win a horse race – there’s nothing more difficult. On this occasion, in this spot, with this horse and being that right, I didn’t think he could get beat.”

It was Patriot Spirit’s four-length victory in the Reigh Count Stakes at Colonial Downs on July 26 that fueled his confidence. Patriot Spirit had won the Inaugural Stakes and Illinois Derby as a 3-year-old, but it was the last race where Campbell saw a different horse.

“When you’ve been around the game as long as I’ve been, what happens is you recognize those watershed moments in a horse’s career: ‘this guy is finally turning the corner,’ “ said Campbell, who maintains a 10-horse stable. “He’s won six out of 15 starts, but it was that race that triggered something in him and triggered something in me to come here with confidence.”

There were no superstars in the Vosburgh. Scotland, runner-up in the Grade 1 Forego, was made the favorite. Crazy Mason, the Grade 2 Carter winner, was the 3-1 third choice. But Patriot Spirit had more early speed than they did in a race that didn’t appear to have much speed at all.

Jockey Javier Castellano had Patriot Spirit within a head of Light the Way through a quarter in 22.76 seconds. There was no half-mile time posted due to a timing issue, per the Equibase chart.

Patriot Spirit got first run on the closers and was never seriously challenged in the stretch. Crazy Mason rallied up the fence under Manny Franco to get second by a half-length over Scotland. Doc
Sullivan was fourth, followed by Light the Way, Nash, The Golden Gorilla and Baby Yoda.

“Really fast,” said Castellano, who was riding Patriot Spirit for the first time. “I spoke to the trainer this morning and he said, ‘he’s really fast out of the gate, if you’ve got the speed, it’s OK, don’t get panicked. Just save something for the end.’ That’s what I did.”

Patriot Spirit, a son of Constitution owned by George Mellon, covered seven furlongs in 1:21.84 (96 Beyer Speed Figure) and returned $7.22 to win.

Patriot Spirit, who has been based at Colonial Downs all summer, will ship to Keeneland to prepare for the Breeders’ Cup. Campbell has had one other Breeders’ Cup starter, Private Prospect, who finished ninth in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. That horse was ridden by his son Jesse.

“That was very exciting, this will be very exciting, too,” Campbell said.

The post Patriot Spirit punches BC Sprint ticket with Vosburgh Stakes triumph appeared first on Cory Moran.

The post Charlene’s Dream Steals the Show in Beverly D. appeared first on Cory Moran.

In the sixth race at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 8, 2-year-old first-time starter Aye Eye  bumped the gate at the break, broke slowly, lagged 19 1/2 lengths behind, and ran one of the most impressive races of the summer meeting.

The connections of Aye Eye were more like “ai yi yi” when the gates opened and their horse was literally nowhere to be seen. Neither the horse nor his tracking chip appeared on the screen for at least half of the six-furlong race. 

Yet, when the field came around the final turn, there was the gray/roan colt, still far back, but eating up ground. Rider Javier Castellano had kept the son of Essential Quality   close to the rail, but now swung him wide, but not wide enough to avoid getting stuck behind horses.

Castellano moved left, moved right, on a horse full of run with nowhere to go. Five wide, he moved four paths inside within half a dozen strides, then slipped to the rail just in front of Tactics , pulling away to win by 1 1/2 lengths.  

“That was a big, exciting race for all of us,” said trainer Joe Orseno. “I’ve never won a race like that before.” 

Castellano had never been on the horse, and the only instructions Orseno gave him were to try to overcome the inside post. 

“It’s hard for horses because you have to load first, and you have to wait for the rest of the field,” said Castellano. “It’s a process for the horses. You don’t know how they can react.” 

Whatever plan Castellano had was left at the gate as Aye Eye walked out. Going to the lead was no longer an option, leaving the jockey to ponder whether he should take a stab at contending or write the race off and hope for better luck next time.

“I didn’t rush,” he said. “I let him develop the pace himself and took my time. I didn’t lose confidence. I gave him a chance on the backside to develop himself. When I tapped him, he jumped on the bridle and started to travel better. I didn’t have to use him much.”

After the race, Orseno said that the colt had shown courage during morning workouts…but only when he was on the outside. On the inside, he was content to travel along with the horses he worked with.

It’s a good thing Castellano didn’t know that before the race, because at the top of the stretch, when he had to decide to go wide or go inside, he chose the latter.

“I decided not to go outside, because I didn’t want to split horses,” he said. “Sometimes when you split horses, you reduce the speed a little bit, or you get in close and the horse hesitates a little bit. But then I saw a lot of traffic, and I saw there was room inside. We moved to that hole and he took off.” 

Aye Eye was the longest shot in the eight-horse field, going off at 26.50-1 and paying $55 to win. 

A $140,000 RNA at last year’s Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Aye Eye was bred in Kentucky by Betz Thoroughbreds, DJ Stables/ Graves/Gainesway/Lamantia/Ramsby. He was purchased by Robert Cotran at this year’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training for $45,000.

By Essential Quality, he’s out of the Divine Park  mare Divine Queen , a multiple stakes winner who retired with earnings of $339,344.

Had Aye Eye met his reserve as a yearling, he wouldn’t have been eligible for the race he won, which is restricted to horses that sold or were RNAs for $60,000 in their most recent sale. It’s that condition that led Orseno to ship up from his New Jersey base. The condition was so popular that it was split into two divisions last Friday, with Orseno running in both legs. 

“We were coming with the horse in the first race, and when the races were split, it was a no-brainer to bring this one, too,” said the trainer.

As Aye Eye’s break made Castellano scrap whatever plan he had, Orseno may be doing the same, based on the colt’s performance.

“Truthfully, we’ve been thinking turf all along with this horse, because of the way he goes in the morning, but the way he just ran, we have to think about some different things. It’s a good problem to have.” 

The post Aye Eye Impresses In Last-To-First Win at Saratoga appeared first on Cory Moran.

The post Bring Theband Home Streaks Home On Front End In Harvey Pack For Stakes Breakthrough appeared first on Cory Moran.

Trainer Mark Casse finally caught a glimpse of 3-year-old colt Dream On’s potential when he powered home to win the Grade 3, $400,000 Penn Mile on Friday at Penn National. The improving runner saved all the ground early and got the better of two stampeding rivals in the stretch to win by a length.
 Three horses in the Penn Mile scratched, including 7-5 morning-line favorite Zulu Kingdom, leaving Casse with the two shortest prices in a five-horse field. While Mi Bago, the 3-5 favorite in the gate, was considered a dangerous pacesetter with recent graded stakes experience, Dream On was the work in progress of the pair.

After finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and inexplicably running flat in his return to stakes company at Tampa Bay Downs, Dream On bounced back to win his first stakes in the $125,000 Woodhaven in April. Casse still expected more from the colt coming off a layoff at Penn National.  “We’ll cherish this win for a while,” Casse said.

Early on in the Penn Mile, it seemed like Dream On might be one of several colts fighting for second when Mi Bago established a comfortable early lead through a quarter-mile in 23.97 seconds.
The heavy favorite continued to cruise along, completing a half-mile in 48.30 and still led by a half-length in the stretch until he suddenly began to fade. The colt has had issues on soft surfaces in the past, and it seemed to hurt his chances again as the Penn Mile suddenly became a wide-open affair.

At first, it seemed like Out On Bail, a colt trained by Mike Maker, might get the first crack at the lead until Dream On and jockey Javier Castellano angled off the rail and split horses in a bold bid for the lead.

“He relaxed,” Casse said. “In fact, it’s probably the best I’ve seen him relax. Javier gave him a great ride, saved ground, and when he asked him to go, he took off.”

Out On Bail continued charging and 15-1 longshot Cairo Caper continued making up ground from fourth, but Dream On got the jump on them and never relented. He held on to win over Cairo Caper, a Phil Schoenthal runner who prevailed over Out On Bail by a head for second. Dream On paid $6 to win and finished the mile in 1:35.62 on a yielding course.

Casse was happy with Dream On’s breakthrough and disappointed in Mi Bago’s flagging finish, but he has reasons to take it slow with both runners going forward. Mi Bago will likely get some rest this summer after racing through the winter in Florida, while the trainer hopes to bask in Dream On’s graded stakes triumph a little longer before considering a next start.

Laurelin stays unbeaten Penn Oaks Laurelin, a 3-year-old filly trained by Graham Motion, extended her undefeated streak to four races in the $150,000 Penn Oaks.

“She’s pretty straightforward, this filly,” Motion said. “She does things very nicely and puts the jocks in a good spot. [Jorge Ruiz] did a great job, and I thought she won very comfortably.”

The rising star only had to deal with four rivals Friday after nearly half of the Penn Oaks field scratched. Chad Brown didn’t ship Midway Memories and Accent, while Cherie DeVaux and Rusty Arnold chose to keep Love and Poetry and Love You Anyway in Kentucky. The remaining fillies in the field were still strong, however, and Laurelin dealt with them professionally to win by 1 1/4 lengths, paying $3.20 to win.

Settling into fourth behind 35-1 pacesetter Pure Majestic, Motion’s filly was never in an uncomfortable position in the tightly bunched group of closers. The early leader completed a quarter-mile in 23.88 and a half-mile in 48.22, but the rest of the field completed much softer fractions behind her and easily ran her down on the far turn.

Turning for home, Candy Quest, one of two fillies entered by Casse, struck the front first under Castellano to lead by a half-length, but Laurelin was already moving outside of her and closing fast down the center of the track.

Casse and Castellano had their moment later on in the Penn Mile, but the Oaks was Laurelin’s, as she and Ruiz cruised past to win comfortably. The heavy favorite finished the mile in 1:35.54.
Motion nearly entered Laurelin in the Grade 2 Wonder Again earlier this month, but the race was taken off the turf. The trainer doesn’t believe he can delay her ascendance to graded stakes company any longer.

“Next time,” Motion said when asked about a potential graded stakes debut. “I think we have to.”

It’s still a loose plan for now, but Motion said he is considering the Grade 2 Saratoga Oaks Invitational for Laurelin’s next start. It will be a challenge, but one she has certainly earned early in her career.

Conner sweeps Pennyslvania-bred stakes While high-profile connections were preparing to duke it out in the Penn Mile and Oaks on Friday evening at Penn National, jockey Tyler
Conner was putting on a one-man show in a pair of statebred $75,000 stakes.

Working out perfect trips in back-to-back races, the jockey was indisputably a difference maker guiding 6-year-old mare Corinna and 5-year-old gelding Fierce and Strong to victories in the Lyphard Stakes and Alphabet Soup Handicap.

Corinna was one of three horses entered in the Lyphard by trainer Michael Matz, whose odds improved even more when four runners scratched in the field of 12.

While her stablemates, Stern Chaser and Lady Outofthe Blue, were both contenders with stakes victories last year, she was making her stakes debut off a layoff of more than nine months.

Bettors made Corinna the longest shot of the Matz trio, but she appeared neither rusty nor outclassed Friday. Working toward the inside on the backstretch under Conner, the mare chased down a pair of loose front-runners, slipped up the rail, and cut the corner to take firm command at the top of the stretch.

Jeanne Marie, an 8-1 outsider trained by Butch Reid, followed along on the rail for second, while 5-2 favorite Princess Javoncia, trained by Elizabeth Merryman, swung wide into the stretch and had to settle for third. By the time those two came calling, Corinna and Conner were gone, powering home to win by 5 3/4 lengths. She finished the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:41.75 and paid $18.20 to win.

While Conner’s work on Corinna revolved around finding the best closing trip, in the Alphabet Soup, there was never a question of navigation when Fierce and Strong broke sharpest out of the gate. By the time the field of 10 was around the first turn, the gelding was already three lengths clear.

It would flatter Conner to say that he was nursing the front-runner along, but the truth is that Fierce and Strong was flying. After completing the opening quarter-mile in 22.26, he extended his lead to 5 1/2 lengths on the backstretch through a half-mile in 45.26. The early fractions had trainer Michael Salvaggio Jr. sweating.

“I don’t know if that was in our plans to go that far out in front in the lead, but this horse is so headstrong,” Salvaggio said. “It’s better to do that than to fight him. I sort of knew this morning, the way he was acting, that we were going to end up on the lead.”

The field slowly began to creep toward the loose front-runner, but with 2-5 favorite Eff Thirty Five more than 15 lengths behind, none of the closers were nearly close enough when Fierce and Strong entered the stretch with a 3 1/2-length lead.

Dylan’s Ruby, a 30-1 longshot trained by John Servis, had tracked the leader in second throughout the race and was the only one with a chance in the stretch. When Fierce and Strong finally hit a wall in the final furlong, it looked like he was standing still as Dylan’s Ruby rapidly began making up ground.

Conner did everything he could to urge his exhausted gelding forward, desperate for the wire. He would not have lasted another stride, but in a tight photo finish, Fierce and Strong prevailed by a nose, successfully stealing the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:41.29. He paid $8.20 to win.

Undefeated in two starts this year, Salvaggio’s gelding won his 5-year-old debut in a five-furlong sprint at Pimlico, closing from seventh in another big day for Conner. His gate-to-wire victory at Penn National on Friday was vastly different, a testament to his versatility. He has now won 6 of 8 starts on his home course in Grantville.

After notching an allowance victory in the second race, Conner won three of the first four on Friday, stealing the show early on a stacked Penn National card.

The post Dream On splits horses, powers home in Penn Mile appeared first on Cory Moran.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Tom Morley and jockey Javier Castellano met early Thursday morning to go over a game plan for how to approach the Grade 3 Poker Stakes at Saratoga with their horse Donegal Momentum.

Later in the morning, after scratches came out – and Filo Di Arianna was withdrawn – Morley called Castellano to discuss a new plan.

“Go to the lead, dictate the pace, you got the speed in the race,” Castellano said Morley told him. “I think you can go wire to wire.”

And that’s basically what he did.

Able to clear the field rather easily going into the first turn of the one-mile race, Donegal Momentum took his six rivals on a futile chase around Saratoga’s inner turf course to record a front-running, 1 3/4-length victory in the $300,000 Poker. Intellect, the 5-2 favorite, who was well back and needed more pace than was provided, rallied for second, three-quarters of a length over Major Dude.

Cameo Performance finished fourth and was followed by Depiction, Sherlock’s Jewel, and Mischievous Angel.

Filo Di Arianna was scratched by trainer Mark Casse, because he “wasn’t 100 percent this morning,” said Casse, who believes the horse might have kicked the stall.

“When Mark came out this morning it changed the dynamics of the race enormously,” Morley said. “When Mark was in the race I thought we were probably going to end up sitting second and then you’re in the difficult position of letting a horse who’s a good horse have the lead.”

Castellano didn’t have to send Donegal Momentum hard to make the lead. Instead, Castellano was able to gradually maneuver him from his outside draw to make a one-length lead through a quarter in 24.34 seconds and a half-mile in 48.09.

Donegal Momentum was still clear through six furlongs in 1:11.53 and had plenty left to kick on through the lane, not giving any of his pursuers a chance. Donegal Momentum, a 4-year-old son of Uncle Mo owned by Donegal Racing, covered the mile over firm ground in 1:34.22 and returned $8.60 as the third choice.

“When he came out it made it a lot easier for us that we had the fastest horse in the race,” Morley said. “There were a couple of horses that probably needed a strong gallop. This horse is exceptionally fast. When he quickens, he really does quicken.”

It was the first graded stakes win for Donegal Momentum, who improved his record to 5 for 10, including a win in the listed Gio Ponti last October at Aqueduct. Morley will look to keep Donegal Momentum racing one mile on firm ground with Saratoga races like the Grade 3, $175,000 Kelso on July 5 and the Grade 1, $750,000 Fourstardave on Aug. 2 as candidates for his next start.

The post Morley and Castellano’s Poker plan works perfectly appeared first on Cory Moran.

The connections of Kentucky Derby contender Sandman have even more reason to continue dreaming.

Dream On, a 3-year-old turf horse owned by D J Stable and trained by Mark Casse – who next Saturday will send out Sandman in the Kentucky Derby – benefitted from a beautiful trip under Javier Castellano to win Saturday’s $125,000 Woodhaven Stakes by a neck over late-running Septarian at Aqueduct. There was a blanket finish in a slow-paced Woodhaven where the pacesetting Sounds Like a Plan held third by a nose Revolutionnaire, the 2-1 favorite. End of Romance, Tiz Dashing, and Cairo Caper completed the order of finish in a seven-horse field
separated by 1 1/2 lengths.

It was the third win from eight starts for Dream On, a son of Not This Time who brought $300,000 at the 2024 Ocala Breeders’ Sales 2-year-old-in-training auction. He had been 0 for 4 in stakes.

“Honestly, he to me, so far, has been an underachiever,” Casse said. “I always thought he was a little better than he’s run. Hopefully, today was the start of something.”

Castellano kept Dream On covered up while racing a joint third inside of Tiz Dashing, both sitting within 2 1/2 lengths of Sounds Like a Plan, who, under Kendrick Carmouche set modest fractions of 24.03 seconds for the quarter, 49.25 for the half-mile and 1:13.30 for six furlongs.

Though Sounds Like a Plan was still clear turning for home, Castellano got Dream On off the rail and set sail for the leader, getting by him in deep stretch.

Dream On covered the mile in 1:38.06 over a turf course labeled good following rain that prompted New York Racing Association officials to transfer Saturday’s other three scheduled turf races to the dirt. Dream On returned $10 as the fourth choice.

“I learned a lot about the horse when I rode him at Gulfstream [winning a Jan. 11 allowance race],” Castellano told NYRA publicity. “It seemed to me he liked to cover up a little bit and make one run. That’s exactly what I did today. … He finished really well today.”

Casse said he would look to keep Dream On at one mile for now and mentioned the $400,000 Penn Mile on May 30 at Penn National.

The post Dream On gets perfect ride by Castellano to take Woodhaven appeared first on Cory Moran.

For a moment, it appeared Bregman Family Racing and Swinbank Stables’ Governor Sam  might run away with the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) Nov. 1 at Del Mar. The son of Improbable jumped out to an early lead before losing steam mere strides from the wire and finishing third to late-surging Magnum Force  and Arizona Blaze .

Despite the third, trainer George Weaver is proud of the effort given by his student.

“He’s an honest horse, he wants to win,” Weaver said.

After coming up short on debut in early May, the colt out of the Into Mischief   mare I’m Betty G  reeled off four consecutive wins including the listed Indian Summer Stakes at Keeneland last time out. 

Making Governor Sam’s effort stand out is in the field of 12, seven were Europeans and the 2-year-old colt was not only the highest-finishing horse bred in the United States—he also prevented a clean sweep by the European runners who took all but third among the top seven spots.

“I respect the Europeans—a lot. It’s racing. Our horse has won four in a row. We don’t know what we’re running against (because they run in Europe). … They’ve got good horses. There’s no shame in our race today.”

Flying Under The Radar

After Magnum Force  won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T), trainer Ger Lyons praised jockey Colin Keane. The champion Irish jockey had just won his second Breeders’ Cup in his fifth start at the World Championships, having piloted Tarnawa  to victory in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1T).

“Once you leg that man up, the job is easy,” Lyons said. “He’s the most understated man—he doesn’t shout; he’s humble. But he’s the most underrated champion jockey on planet Earth. He’s come over here, he’s won two Breeders’ Cups, and still nobody knows about him.

“He’s a little bit like his trainer in that the two of us like to stay at home on our farm, walk our dogs, and mind our own business. But when he comes out and he gets the right ammunition, he can deliver, and he’s proven that more than once. I personally would love to see him on the big stage more. Unfortunately, I can’t feed him with that ammo to do that.”

Magnum Force and rider Colin Keane after winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar

Nevertheless, Lyons had just done exactly that. One of the ways the trainer prepared Magnum Force was by training him around a turn not unlike American turf courses.

“My track where I train at home is similar to your turf track except mine is all-weather chippings,” Lyons said. “A very prominent owner once took horses off me because he said no man can train winners on a circle track like that. I think we’ve trained enough winners to prove that we can.”

Immersive Emulates Sire Nyquist With Breeders’ Cup Win

In winning the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), Godolphin’s Immersive  became a three-time grade 1 winner during an unbeaten 2-year-old campaign—just as her sire, the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1)-winning Nyquist  , was nine years ago. Soon, in a couple of months, she will undoubtedly become a champion like Nyquist when Eclipse Award winners are announced in a ceremony in South Florida.

Though Godolphin did not race Nyquist, Godolphin’s stallion division, Darley America, stands him in Kentucky, where he entered racing Breeders’ Cup Friday as the 17th-leading sire in North America by progeny earnings—and likely to climb further before the weekend is over. In addition to Godolphin’s homebred Immersive, Nyquist will be represented Nov. 2 in Breeders’ Cup races by Johannes  in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T).

Due to these influential races, Darley America reported they would announce his stud fee after the Breeders’ Cup. He stood for $85,000 in 2024.

Speaking during a press conference after the victory from the Brad Cox-trained Immersive, Michael Banahan, director of bloodstock for Godolphin USA, said: “Being by Nyquist, as well, made it extra special for us today. We’re so grateful for Godolphin’s founder, Sheikh Mohammed (bin Rashid Al Maktoum), to put us in a position to where we can raise horses like that for him, Brad to train horses like that for him, as well.”

Nyquist at Darley near Lexington

The Godolphin team and Cox can now look to the future with Immersive, most certainly eyeing next spring’s Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs, where Nyquist captured the 2016 Kentucky Derby (G1) the May after his Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) triumph. 

Immersive’s dam, Gap Year , was bred and raced by Godolphin, becoming a three-time winner before entering Godolphin’s loaded broodmare band. Immersive is her second winner from as many to race.

“Sometimes we’ve hit peaks, and sometimes we’ve hit valleys with them, but the good pedigrees always come to the fore again,” Banahan said.

Near-Record Handle for Day 1

The all-sources handle Friday of $63,679,944 was the second-highest handle for a Breeders’ Cup Friday and the fourth consecutive year the Day 1 handle exceeded $60 million. The record of $66,141,766 was set in 2022 at Keeneland. The on-track handle for Friday’s card was $6,683,373.

Meanwhile, attendance at Del Mar for the first day of Breeders’ Cup action was 30,982. That is up from 20,536 on Day 1 in 2021, the last time the track hosted the Breeders’ Cup. However, it is down from last year at Santa Anita Park when the Future Stars Friday card was witnessed by 43,377. 

Quotable

• Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., on what it is like to ride Thorpedo Anna  (Breeders’ Cup Distaff): “It’s hard to describe. She is so dominant and so powerful in what she does. She just has this presence about her where she seems to know how good she is and she wants to go out there and show it. She is almost like a warrior princess. She gets cranked up in the post parade and, once the gates open, she leaves there and gets in her natural rhythm and she’ll jump when I need her to. We are going into this worrying more about how our filly is doing than worry about who we are facing.”

• Jockey Manny Franco, on winning his second Breeders’ Cup race (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies): “It means a lot. These are the races we dream of and that’s what we’re here for.”

• Jockey Ryan Moore, on how Lake Victoria  (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf) compares to others who have raced in the same silks: “You couldn’t compare her with all the other horses. As far as the 2-year-old fillies go, to do what she’s done is very unique. I don’t think there would have been one that’s done that before.”

The post Governor Sam Hits Board in BC Juvenile Turf Sprint appeared first on Cory Moran.

The post Future Is Now holds off Star of Mystery, sets stakes record with Franklin triumph appeared first on Cory Moran.

If there was an Eclipse Award for top female turf sprinter, it would be hard to argue against voting for R. Larry Johnson’s Future Is Now .

The 4-year-old Great Notion   filly has quietly put together as good five months as anyone in Thoroughbred racing, culminating in her stakes-record-setting victory in the $303,244 Franklin Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland Oct. 13.

Starting the year in allowance company, Future Is Now has been on fire since winning the The Very One Stakes at Pimlico Race Course May 17. She followed up in the summer at Saratoga Race Course with victories in the Intercontinental (G2T) and Smart and Fancy Stakes. Sandwiched between those efforts was a third-place run in the Caress (G3T) where she was caught at the wire to lose by a half-length after jockey Paco Lopez lost the crop.

The rejuvenation of her career, representing four of her seven lifetime victories from 14 starts, has come since Lopez took over the reins.

“It’s great that (trainer Michael Trombetta) is keeping us together,” Lopez said. “When you’re working together, everything’s pointing up.”

Despite her success, which earned her the highest weight in the Franklin field at 125 pounds, she was somewhat forgotten about by the bettors, allowed to go off at 6-1 and paying $15.76 for her victory. That number was largely skewed by the heavy 4-5 favoritism of the 3-year-old Godolphin homebred Star of Mystery , who has twice placed in grade 1 company against older males this season at Saratoga and in Dubai.

Planning to play the break, Lopez found himself on top through the opening strides before conceding the lead to Stone Silent . He then sat a comfortable trip on the rail behind the pacesetter’s fractions of :21.17 and :43.79.

Space opened for Lopez as they swung into the stretch and his filly answered when he called. He motored past Stone Silent and separated by enough to hold off the closers by 3/4 lengths. She completed the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:01.47, the fastest of 28 editions of the Franklin.

Among the closers chasing her late was Star of Mystery, who experienced a disastrous trip from the rail.

“She broke well, but then I wasn’t fast enough so I got covered up,” said her rider Flavien Prat. “She made a good run but it’s hard to make up so much ground.”

Prat found himself last of 12 turning for home but was able to weave his way between horses,  defeating Pandora’s Gift  by a half-length for second. Prat said he never stopped riding her the whole race and the fact she managed to finish second showcased the talent of the Charlie Appleby-trained runner.

But for the present, Johnson’s homebred Future Is Now is the one to claim the glory in the Keeneland sunshine, improving her career earnings to $601,160.

“She’s a nice filly, she gave me a great run today,” Lopez said.

She put the cherry on top of a fantastic weekend for Great Notion, Maryland’s leading sire over the last six years. One day prior at Laurel Park, his Starstruck Notion  won the Maryland Million Turf and Brilliant Ice  conquered the Maryland Million Classic. Great Notion stood the 2024 season Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City, Md., for a fee of $7,500.

The post Future Is Now Sets Stakes Record in Franklin appeared first on Cory Moran.