Brilliant Berti, whose winning streak was halted in the Secretariat (G2) last time out, promptly regained top honors in Sunday’s $1,498,350 Gun Runner S. at Kentucky Downs. On the undercard, promising juveniles Tiztastic, May Day Ready, and Kilwin all scored their first stakes victories.
Gun Runner S.
Klein Racing’s homebred Brilliant Berti ranked as the slight 2.06-1 favorite over Neat, who went off at 2.90-1. Brilliant Berti got the jump on his market rival while displaying a sharper turn of foot.
Trained by Cherie DeVaux and ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., the son of Noble Mission was reserved well off a contested pace. Drunk on Sake was reeling off fractions of :22.83, :44.85, and 1:08.94 under increasing pressure from Aspenite, with Lucky Jeremy in the mix.
Herchee, nestled just behind the leaders, was briefly stymied on the inside turning for home but soon regained a threatening position. As the pace factors folded in the stretch, In a Jam likewise improved into contention.
But Brilliant Berti was living up to his name with raking strides wider out. Although Herchee gamely tried to counterpunch, Brilliant Berti had his measure by a comfortable length. The winner negotiated the firm-turf mile in 1:33.42.
Herchee, who was making his stakes debut in his third career start, held off Neat by three-quarters of a length for the runner-up spot. In a Jam checked in fourth, followed by Depiction, Lucky Jeremy, Kentucky Go Go, Army Officer, Karlwithanarl, Aspenite, and Drunk on Sake. Henro and Call Protection were scratched.
Brilliant Berti’s resume reads 6-4-1-0, and the Kentucky-bred boosted his bankroll to $1,275,785. Unraced at two, the bay swiftly climbed the class ladder this season at Churchill Downs, culminating in a sparkling performance in the American Derby. He lost no luster when playing second fiddle to Trikari in the Aug. 11 Secretariat at Colonial Downs, and resumed his progress here.
“He handled it really well,” Hernandez said of his adapting to the unique gradients of Kentucky Downs. “He didn’t break good, but he does that often. Going up the hill, I wasn’t really, really worried about it.
“Typically, if horses start traveling under you down the hill and start picking horses up, they tend to like this place. Once he did that, and we got into a nice cruising speed down the hill, I was like, ‘OK, we can run them down from this point.’
“He likes the competition. He ran by those horses pretty quickly, and once he made the lead, he had his ears up under the wire, just looking around and cruising along. Once he got to the wire and the horse to the inside (Herchee) took another shot at him, he jumped up and galloped out.”
Out of the Grade 2-placed multiple stakes winner Believe in Bertie, Brilliant Berti hails from the extended family of multiple Grade 1 star Beach Patrol and Saturday’s John C. Mabee (G2) shocker Hang the Moon.
Owner/breeder Richard Klein has very high hopes for the colt’s future, while revealing what he means as a fourth-generation homebred.
“What a special horse. In fact, I made a stop by the cemetery before I came down here to let my parents (Bert and Elaine Klein) both know that Berti is running today, and hopefully they can be a part of it and ride with him down the stretch. They were a big part of this.
“I wouldn’t trade this horse for anybody,” Klein added. “I think he belongs with the top three-year-old turf horses. He’s going to be well spotted.
“We’re looking at the race at Keeneland, the Bryan Station (G3) on Oct. 26 — I have no interest in the Breeders’ Cup — then put him away. My goal next year is Derby Day,” specifically the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (G1).
Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile
In the $998,550 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile, Winchell Thoroughbreds and the Coolmore partners’ Tiztastic rallied to outduel West Beach by a neck. The Steve Asmussen pupil was the fourth winner on the card for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who would ultimately make it a five-timer.
Tiztastic, a debut fifth in the Saratoga dirt maiden won by eventual Hopeful (G1) star Chancer McPatrick, switched surfaces to take an Aug. 29 allowance over this course. The 4.63-1 chance worked out a similar trip from off the pace on Sunday, closing off splits of :22.72, :44.72, and 1:08.77 to prevail in 1:34.53.
West Beach did well to finish a clear second after racing in proximity to that pace, with 3 3/4 lengths to spare over Ready for Peace. Next came Coal Battle, The Brigade, slow-starting Turnbuckle, early leader I’m Otter Here, Reach for the Rose, Emmett, Kirin, Mika, and 1.76-1 favorite Forged Steel. The Count Is On was scratched, along with also-eligibles Homie and Lush Lips.
Tiztastic is the second stakes winner for freshman sire Tiz the Law, after Out on Bail in the Skidmore S. at Saratoga. His scorecard stands at 3-2-0-0, $742,300.
“This is the only one I have,” Asmussen said of Tiz the Law progeny, “and I love this one.”
Asmussen explained that the purse structure lured Tiztastic onto turf, but that he’s not done with dirt.
“I think he’s very versatile. I think the financial opportunities that are here made what we pointed him at obvious. He was very successful there, but he’s a horse that will do equally as well on the other surface.
“I think this horse will be better going forward; I really do.”
Tiztastic is intensely inbred (3×2) to Tapit, who factors as his paternal great-grandsire as well as his broodmare sire. Bred by Capital Bloodstock in Kentucky, the $80,000 Keeneland January yearling turned into a $335,000 purchase at the same venue last September.
Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies
Nine years after guiding the talented filly Nemoralia to her first two career wins, international legend Frankie Dettori has provided the same expert assistance to her daughter, May Day Ready.
Dettori masterminded May Day Ready’s photo-finish victory on debut Aug. 4 at the Spa. On Sunday, he steered the Tapit filly to a more decisive verdict in the $997,200 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies.
Trained by Joseph Lee for KatieRich Stables, May Day Ready was reserved a few lengths behind fractions of :23.06, :45.20, and 1:09.51. The 4.58-1 shot quickened on the outside to score by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:35.36.
Bellavinino suffered a checkered passage in an unlucky second, a neck up on She’s Got Will. Early leader Mean Eileen, the 2.92-1 favorite, rounded out the superfecta. Sashay Away, Somethinabouther, Tigerish, Bonne Fille, Flip Flops, Sorry Not Sorry, Into the Fray, and Playful Lass concluded the order of finish. The also-eligibles — Bessie Abott, Knightofcaravaggio, Ramsey Pond, and Sweet Treasure — did not draw into the field.
Now 2-for-2, May Day Ready has amassed $643,300. She has a way to go to reach the level of Group 3 heroine Nemoralia, who placed in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and Frizette (G1) as well as the 2016 Coronation (G1) at Royal Ascot.
Despite her parents’ accomplishments, the White Birch Farm-bred May Day Ready fetched only $60,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling. She went to her current connections for $325,000 at OBS April, and her trainer has been well pleased with her.
“I loved her,” Lee said. “I loved her since probably her fourth or so public work. There’s a work in there that when she worked in :36 and change, it was the way she did it then, and how she did it. I know it was only three-eighths, but I’ve been around some nice ones, and I just thought that she was special.
“I wanted to go to Canada and run her in the Natalma (G1) next week,” Lee said of the “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1). “I wasn’t comfortable with the racetrack (given the uniqueness of Kentucky Downs), but the owner wanted to come.”
Dettori noted that he goes back a long way with Lee.
“Joe used to work ride with me at Godolphin many moons ago. We go back a long time. Look, he doesn’t have that many horses. For him to win a big race, I’m delighted.
“She’s still a bit green,” Dettori added of May Day Ready. “So that’s good. If she can still do that and be green, that means there’s room for improvement. I suspect she has a shot at the Breeders’ Cup…
“She’s got that little turn of foot that makes the difference between being a horse and being a good horse.”
Untapable S.
BBN Racing’s Kilwin, the 2.68-1 favorite, swooped even later in a dramatic conclusion to the $998,550 Untapable S. Under a perfectly-timed move by Jose Lezcano, the Rusty Arnold filly stormed from the clouds to nab frontrunning Shezafunkydrummer by a half-length.
Shezafunkydrummer, who set fast fractions of :22.10, :45.41, and 1:09.12, wandered around in deep stretch. As she drifted out, she bothered Civetta, and coming back in, she made life harder for Give Life. They wound up fourth and fifth, respectively.
The stewards posted the inquiry sign, and the riders of both Civetta (Tyler Gaffalione) and Give Life (Jose Ortiz) lodged objections against Gerardo Corrales aboard Shezafunkydrummer. But upon review, the original result was allowed to stand.
Shezafunkydrummer retained the runner-up spot. Abientot was not involved in the trouble in her wide rally for third, overtaking Civetta and Give Life, who were trailed by She’s All Charm, Cotillard, Viggiedal, Winfinity, Ultima Grace, Unchained Elaine, and Dreamgirl. Andrea was withdrawn, as were the also-eligibles Perfect Figure and Run Camila Run.
Kilwin clocked 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.50 to remain perfect from two starts. In her July 27 premiere at Ellis Park, the Twirling Candy juvenile pounced from a tracking position.
Thus Arnold was surprised when Kilwin lagged far behind on Sunday.
“I thought she’d be a little closer to the pace, laying right off of it,” her trainer said. “Got farther back than I thought. But it worked out in the end. He (Lezcano) said she didn’t break as sharp as we’d thought. Then she settled. This is a funny course, and some of them will do that. But the result was great.”
“The ride Jose gave, it gave us all a heart attack,” BBN Racing’s Braxton Lynch said. “I think he knew what he had the whole time. He knew he just had to get an open path, and once he did, she just took off.”
Bred by Gilder-Schwarz Farms in Kentucky, the $225,000 Keeneland September yearling has now earned $630,500.
Kilwin became the third stakes winner produced by the Blame mare Spanish Star. Her first two are entirely different types. Grade 2 veteran One Timer is a sprinter capable on turf and synthetic surfaces for trainer Larry Rivelli, who ironically sent out Shezafunkydrummer here. Kilwin’s sophomore half-sister, Just Basking, is a dirt router who won the Iowa Oaks and most recently placed in the Alabama (G1).
