Andthewinneris wins Bourbon Stakes, gains BC Juvenile Turf spot

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Trainer Wayne Catalano thought he had a winner in his barn in the weeks leading up to the Grade 2, $350,000 Bourbon Stakes for 2-year-olds on the Keeneland turf course.

“100 percent,” Catalano said.

Andthewinneris was just that on Sunday evening, rallying to win the Bourbon going away and in stakes-record time. He emphatically punched his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf – this race awarded him a fees-paid berth – set for Nov. 4 on this Keeneland course, on which this colt is unbeaten.

“The way the horse was training, I thought we were going to win the race,” said Catalano, who capped a solid weekend after sending out Manny Wah to win the Grade 2 Phoenix Stakes on Friday, also for owner Susan Moulton. “Obviously, it’s horse racing, and anything can happen, but I go in thinking we can win. The horses feel it. Everything went like I planned. Today we had pace and everything came together like it should. When you make a plan and everything comes together, it’s a great time.”

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Andthewinneris ($10.18) broke from the outside post in a wide-open field of 12, the only circumstance that Catalano had expressed consternation about this week. However, Flavien Prat was able to ease him in to save some ground in the long run to the first turn. The colt was ninth through the opening half-mile in 45.81 seconds. Panama, away sharply toward the inside of the gate, showed that way early, pressured by Deer District and Gigante.

Andthewinneris was still well back with just over a quarter-mile remaining, but came with plenty of run when Prat brought him six wide once straightened away. The colt inhaled his foes in a rush and scooted away in the final yards, hitting the wire 2 3/4 lengths in front.

“I was traveling really well all the way around, and when I tipped him out, he really gave me a great turn of foot,” Prat said. “Wayne told me he was going to run great, and he was right.”

Deer District, who briefly held the lead in upper stretch, did well to hold second by three-quarters of a length over Really Good, as the rest of the early speed faded. Really Good was a half-length in front of Rarified Flair, followed by Our Dream Rye'd; Boppy O, winner of the Grade 3 With Anticipation at Saratoga; Reckoning Force, the second choice who was away slowly and never involved; and then Accident, B Minor, Gigante, Panama, and Hendrickson.

Andthewinneris stopped the clock for the 1 1/16 miles in a stakes-record 1:41.27, breaking the prior mark of 1:42.42 established by Gateman in 1999, when the race was known as the Hopemont Stakes. It was the fifth stakes record to fall this weekend on a very firm turf course, with rain scarce in Lexington in recent weeks. Annapolis (Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile), In Italian (Grade 1 First Lady), and Golden Pal (Grade 2 Woodford) all set stakes records on Saturday, and Private Creed (Indian Summer) had set a stakes record earlier on the Sunday card.

Andthewinneris, from the first crop of 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Oscar Performance, won his debut sprinting on the Keeneland turf in April. Catalano tried him on dirt and he acquitted himself well by finishing third in the Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs. Moved back to turf and stretched out around two turns, Andthewinneris was third behind Boppy O in the With Anticipation.

He found the winner’s circle Sunday.

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