Spirit of St Louis lands in time in Turf Classic

Saturday’s $934,200 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (G1) was an open-looking renewal on paper, and it remained so when most of the field fanned across the Churchill Downs course in a frenetic dash for home. Then 3.12-1 favorite Spirit of St Louis flew onto the radar late to win going away, giving his connections a Grade 1 turf double on Kentucky Derby Day.

Trainer Chad Brown and two of his co-owners, Madaket Stables and Michael Dubb, earlier captured the American Turf (G1) with Zulu Kingdom. (His third co-owner is Richard Schermerhorn.) Spirit of St Louis was also continuing a big Derby weekend for sire Medaglia d’Oro, whose daughters Good Cheer and Nitrogen starred in Friday’s Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Edgewood (G2), respectively. 

Spirit of St Louis was reuniting with jockey Manny Franco, who guided him to his first six stakes victories on the New York circuit. Tyler Gaffalione had picked up the mount for his graded breakthrough in the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) at Gulfstream Park and his most recent fourth in the Muniz Memorial Classic (G2) at Fair Grounds. 

Under patient handling, Spirit of St Louis bided his time at or near the rear of the field early. The pace started out muddled, with stablemate Redistricting briefly in front but on a hold, hoping for a rival to take on the front-running job.

Mercante obliged through an opening quarter in :23.97 on the good course, but rounding the clubhouse turn, Gigante decided to get on with it. Gigante cleared away through a half in :47.99, only to come back to the field. Mercante regained the edge after six furlongs in 1:12.13 and braced for all the challengers emerging at the top of the stretch.

Redistricting, Cameo Performance, Highway Robber, and Taking Candy were all in the thick of contention, and Gold Phoenix dove to the inside to rally. Meanwhile, Integration was stuck behind a wall of horses. So was Running Bee, who ultimately had to steer out widest of all in a belated effort.

By that point, Spirit of St Louis took wing and passed the entire battling bunch. Crossing the wire three-quarters of a length in front, the dark bay gelding negotiated 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.20.

Spirit of St Louis, who paid $8.24, became Brown’s fifth winner of this race. Also successful last year with Program Trading, Brown has sent out Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar (2019), Digital Age (2020), and Domestic Spending (dead-heat in 2021).

Mercante had a neck on third-placer Highway Robber, who was the same margin up on Gold Phoenix. Running Bee was another neck astern in fifth, nipping fellow Brown trainee Redistricting. The tough-luck Integration, Cameo Performance, Gigante, and Taking Candy concluded the order of finish. Idratherbeblessed was scratched along with Brilliant Berti, who just won Thursday’s Opening Verse S.

Spirit of St Louis has now bankrolled $1,809,250 from his 16-11-3-0 line. Bred by Chester and Mary Broman in New York, the five-year-old is a well-named son of Khancord Kid, a Grade 3-winning Lemon Drop Kid mare. Spirit of St Louis is a full brother to Bar of Gold, who upset the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1).