Brooklynsway scores upset in Doubledogdare Stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Brooklynsway got a perfect trip in the Doubledogdare Stakes on Friday at Keeneland.

I’m a Chatterbox, not so much.

The result was a 25-1 upset for Brooklynsway and jockey Robby Albarado in the 22nd running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Doubledogdare before a crowd of 13,902 at Keeneland. I’m a Chatterbox, the 1-2 favorite, had to settle for second, 1 1/4 lengths behind the winner and another three-quarters of a length before Ahh Chocolate in a field of eight fillies and mares.

Brooklynsway, owned by Naveed Chowhan and trained by Bernie Flint, broke sharply from post 1 to secure an ideal position behind front-running White Clover into the first turn of the 1 1/16-mile Doubledogdare.

“Circumstances dictated that I get her running out of there, and she took it the rest of the way,” said Albarado.

Conversely, I’m a Chatterbox and jockey Florent Geroux weren’t away as well, and she encountered traffic while bottled up near the rail and enduring an uncomfortable trip for much of the rest of the way. The chestnut filly was making her 4-year-old debut for trainer Larry Jones off 10 recorded workouts after being an Eclipse Award finalist last year.

“She walked out of the gate,” said Geroux. “Wish we could have been a little more forwardly placed. She probably needed a race. She was ready, but a race is still a race.”

Brooklynsway returned $52.40 after finishing in 1:42.86 over a fast track. Chowhan purchased her privately over the winter, and Flint had started the 4-year-old filly just once, resulting in a fourth-place finish in an ungraded stakes last month at Fair Grounds.

“We think we’ve got a heck of a horse,” said Flint, whose most memorable prior stakes win at Keeneland came when he upset eventual Kentucky Derby winner Swale in the 1984 Lexington Stakes with He Is a Great Deal.

Brooklynsway, now a winner in five of 15 starts, is an Ontario-bred by Giant Gizmo. The Doubledogdare was her first stakes triumph in non-restricted company.

The Doubledogdare was marred by a right-hind leg injury that occurred in upper stretch and proved catastrophic for Back in Dixie. The 4-year-old filly came into the race off five straight wins. She was euthanized shortly after the race out of public view.

For Albarado, a four-time Keeneland riding titlist and a winner of more than 4,850 career races, Friday marked a welcomed breakthrough: He had gone 0 for 32 at this meet before winning twice on the 10-race card, including an earlier race.

After the top three, the order was White Clover, Innovative Idea, Pretty Fancy, Sea Shadow, and Back in Dixie. Welcome Aboard was an early scratch.

The $2 exacta (1-2) paid $106.20, the $1 trifecta (1-2-6) returned $185.90, and the 10-cent superfecta (1-2-6-7) was worth $55.75.

Only the twin turf marathons remain on the stakes schedule for the 16-day spring meet: the Grade 2 Elkhorn on Saturday and the Grade 3 Bewitch on closing day, April 29.