Churchill Downs: Uncaptured edges Frac Daddy in Kentucky Jockey Club

Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography

Uncaptured (inside), with Miguel Mena riding, gets the best of Frac Daddy in the Kentucky Jockey Club.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Uncaptured is a throwback, at least in this respect: Late in his 2-year-old season, the colt already has won five stakes, a total sometimes not exceeded by even the most glorified retirees in this modern era.

The fifth one came after an old-fashioned throw-down with a similarly talented colt, Frac Daddy, when the two hooked up Saturday at Churchill Downs in a riveting 86th running of the Grade 2, $177,150 Kentucky Jockey Club, the last of two stakes on the Stars of Tomorrow program exclusively for 2-year-olds.

Capping a huge afternoon for jockey Miguel Mena, Uncaptured raced closest to the rail during the torrid stretch drive, barely outlasting Frac Daddy among a field of 13 colts and geldings. Owned by John Oxley and trained by Mark Casse, Uncaptured returned $5.60 as favorite after finishing 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.97 over a fast track. The official winning margin was a neck, although it appeared to be a head at most.

"It was a big day," said Mena, the 26-year-old Peruvian who won the Grade 2 Golden Rod about an hour earlier on longshot Seaneen Girl. Frac Daddy, he said, "came to our outside and put a lot of pressure on us. There was a lot of bumping, but my horse is a very nice horse, and he never gave up."

"Honestly, at the eighth pole I thought he was beat," said Casse.

On a chilly but pleasant evening, and with the Churchill lights illuminating a twilight glow, 31-1 shot Track Rocker took the early lead while closely pressed from the outside by Uncaptured. Turning for home, as Uncaptured took over and moved to the rail, Frac Daddy, the 5-2 second choice, moved alongside, and it was game on.

"We did everything but win," said Ken McPeek, trainer of Frac Daddy, who was making his stakes debut. "Except for that, I'm thrilled. What a nice prospect we have."

Dewey Square, the 6-1 third choice, ran on well to be third, 1 1/4 lengths behind Frac Daddy and another three-quarters of a length before Tesseron.

Uncaptured, an Ontario-bred colt by Lion Heart, now has won 6 of 7 races, all but one of them stakes. He won three stakes at Woodbine, none of them graded, before being defeated there in the Grade 3 Grey as a 2-5 favorite. Shipped to Kentucky, he redeemed for that lone defeat by capturing the Grade 3 Iroquois on the first Stars of Tomorrow card here Oct. 28.

The top four were favorites in exact order. The $2 exacta (4-6) paid $17.60, the $1 trifecta (4-6-9) returned $41.20, and the dime superfecta (4-6-9-8) was worth $20.42.

The last horse to win both the KJC and the Kentucky Derby was Super Saver, who pulled that parlay in 2009-10. Before that, it was Cannonade (1973-74).

Saturday marked the seventh sweep of the Iroquois and KJC and the first since Tiz Wonderful did it in 2006 for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Seaneen Girl takes Golden Rod at 31-1

About an hour earlier, while it was still daylight, Seaneen Girl pulled a 31-1 stunner in the filly twin, the Grade 2, $167,550 Golden Rod Stakes, also run at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt. Making her first start since owner Naveed Chowhan turned her over to Bernie Flint, Seaneen Girl got the best of the 2-1 favorite, Gal About Town, in a sustained stretch duel to win by a half-length.

The winner finished in 1:44.95 and returned $64, the longest price in the Golden Rod since Sequent won the 1962 renewal at 96-1. This was the 69th running of the Golden Rod.

Flint, the 72-year-old Churchill veteran, gave major credit to Woodbine-based Robert Tiller, for whom Seaneen Girl made her first five starts. "She came to me in great shape, and I just gave her three easy works into this." he said.

Liberated, away poorly, recovered well enough to finish third, another five lengths before Gal About Town.

Seaneen Girl, a Kentucky-bred by Spring at Last, was winning for just the second time. She was the second Golden Rod winner for both Flint and Chowhan, who took the 2004 running with Runway Model.

** Besides the two stakes, five first-level allowances and five maiden special-weight races were run on the 12-race Stars of Tomorrow card. Many of winners were impressive prevailing by open lengths, including fillies Brotherhood Singer and Pure Fun in main-track allowances; Flying Bird, a rallying winner of a two-turn turf allowance; Tour Guide, a Bret Calhoun-trained colt in an allowance sprint; Gulfport in a one-mile main-track allowance for Dale Romans; Bradester in a two-turn maiden race for Eddie Kenneally; and General Election, a first-out winner of a maiden sprint for WinStar Farm and trainer Kellyn Gorder.