Aud wins 3-horse photo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Jockey Brice Blanc furthered his reputation as a top turf rider Saturday at Churchill Downs, winning two grass stakes, including the Grade 3, $173,550 aboard Aud.
Aud needed a perfect, ground-saving trip from Blanc to get up in the final strides, edging runner-up May Gator and third-place finisher Angela's Love. Aud trailed by over 11 lengths in the early going, before gaining rapidly on the turn and through the stretch.
Angela's Love, dismissed at 38-1 odds, nearly stole the race. She raced uncontested on the lead, setting fractions of 49.49 and 1:14.01 over a rain-soaked course officially labeled yielding. But in the end she proved unable to withstand Aud and May Gator.
Aud scored by a neck, with 51-1 May Gator and 38-1 Angela's Love separated by a head. Noisette, a 15-1 shot, ran fourth, 4 1/4 lengths behind Angela's Love. Classic Stamp, the 8-5 favorite, was fifth.
A 4-year-old daughter of Wild Again, Aud won for the second time in nine starts this year for the Willmott Stables and trainer Tony Reinstedler. She raced 1 1/8 miles in 1:53.94, paying $9.
Swelled by large prices on the second- through fourth-place finishers, a $1 superfecta in the Cardinal returned a track record $100,092.50. According to the Churchill Downs mutuel department, there was one winning superfecta ticket, placed at Suffolk Downs, which swept the pool.
The Cardinal marked the second straight week in which a major graded stakes race at Churchill Downs was decided in a three-way photo. River Belle won last Saturday's Mrs. Revere similarly.
Sweet Talker takes Caressing
Blanc's earlier stakes victory came in the seventh, when Sweet Talker scored a 3 1/4-length victory in the $71,700 Caressing, an overnight handicap at 1 1/16 miles on turf for 2-year-old fillies.
Sweet Talker won for the third time in five starts for owners Eliah and Lisa Kahn and trainer Ken McPeek. She raced 1 1/16 miles in 1:47.51, paying $8.60.
Dynamist, the 9-10 favorite, finished second, 5 1/2 lengths in front of third-place finisher Diane's Debut.