Big Bend beats elders in Sycamore Stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Big Bend was largely ignored by Keeneland bettors when trying older stakes horses for the first time, but the colt defied his 18-1 odds when prevailing Thursday in the 23rd running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Sycamore Stakes.

Adeptly ridden by Drayden Van Dyke in the 1 1/2-mile turf race, Big Bend held off a sustained run by Nessy to become just the second 3-year-old to win the Sycamore. Mustanfaar (2004) was the only other such winner.

Big Bend, owned by the Union Rags Racing LLC partnership, returned $39 after finishing in 2:33.24 over firm going. Tom Proctor trains the son of Union Rags at the Fair Hill Training Center in northern Maryland. The colt was coming off a victory over fellow 3-year-olds in the Dueling Grounds Derby last month at Kentucky Downs.

Before a crowd of 11,324, Hardest Core and Infinite Wisdom set the early fractions in the three-turn Sycamore as the field spread out nearly 20 lengths. Approaching the quarter pole, Flashy Chelsey and jockey Jose Ortiz moved to the front, but then Van Dyke asked Big Bend for his best, and the colt surged clear at the furlong pole to have sufficient room to finish ahead of Nessy, a 12-1 shot, by three-quarters of a length.

“He doesn’t have to be on the lead, and he stepped it up today,” said the 23-year-old Van Dyke, who spent his youth in Kentucky and Arkansas and is now among the top jockeys on the Southern California circuit. “He sat, relaxed, and when he needed to run, he took off. What else can you ask for?”

Canessar, the 3-1 favorite in a field of 12, rallied belatedly up the rail to be third, 1 3/4 lengths behind Nessy and a neck before Flashy Chelsey. Then came Tasit, Final Copy, Manitoulin, Some in Tieme, Renown, Majestic Pride, Hardest Core, and Infinite Wisdom. Tobias was an early scratch.

The $2 exacta (11-12) paid $470.80, the $1 trifecta (11-12-3) returned $1,826.10, and the 10-cent superfecta (11-12-3-10) was worth $3,929.22.

The Sycamore result was typical of the entire nine-race card, as favorites were blanked on the day. The winners’ odds were 3-1, 5-2, 15-1, 13-1, 9-1, 17-1, 9-5, 18-1, and 7-1. Three-of-six was good enough for a consolation payoff in the $1 pick six (races 4-9), which leaves a carryover of $11,024 into a 10-race Friday card.

The Sycamore was the first of four graded stakes to be run here this week, with the others being the Grade 3 Pin Oak Valley View on Friday, the Grade 2 Raven Run on Saturday, and the Grade 3 Dowager on Sunday. The 17-day fall meet closes Oct. 28 with the Grade 2 Fayette.