Closethegame Sugar ($38.92) catches Skelly in final strides of Aristides Stakes

Trainer Steve Asmussen said earlier this week that he hoped the standout sprinter he trains, Skelly, was as good at Churchill Downs as he’d been at Oaklawn Park. He wasn’t. The 2-5 favorite, Skelly broke poorly, made the lead, had to work to put away a pace rival, and was run down in the final furlong of the $250,000 Aristides Stakes by the 18-1 shot Closethegame Sugar.

The margin of victory was one length, and a fading Skelly was just one length better than third-place Tejano Twist, a horse he’d beaten by at least three lengths the three times they met at Oaklawn.

Closethegame Sugar was the second-longest price in a seven-runner field (Surly Furious was scratched) in part because he’d never won a dirt race. A 4-year-old trained by Adam Rice, who co-owns the gelding with Sugar Diaz LLC, Closethegame Sugar came into the Aristides 2-3-0 from six starts, five of them on turf or Tapeta. By Girvin, out of Casual Cocktail, by Magna Graduate, Closethegame Sugar won the Mahoney Stakes last summer, a 3-year-old turf sprint, and ended his 2023 campaign with a handicap win at Presque Isle Downs. He had been a well-beaten second making his dirt debut May 2 in a Churchill allowance race while returning from a long layoff, and his best Beyer Speed Figure before Saturday was 87.

:: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!

Skelly’s last three Beyers were 102, 103, and 105, but he had nothing to fend off Closethegame Sugar’s push through the homestretch. Skelly, a winner of nine in a row at Oaklawn, broke slowly in his last start there this spring, the Lake Hamilton, and he was away poorly again Saturday. Cruising up to take the lead before a furlong had been run, Skelly went his opening quarter-mile in 21.73 and his half in 44.19, fast splits from a horse who had proven capable of handling a demanding pace. But Skelly and Ricardo Santana could not open up on the turn, not could they slip away in upper stretch, and Closethegame Sugar, who’d stalked the pace under Irad Ortiz, clearly had plenty of run at the three-sixteenths pole. Rallying wide, he tagged Skelly in the final furlong, putting up the best race of his life.

Over a fast-playing surface, Closethegame Sugar clocked 1:08.39 for six furlongs and paid $38.92 to win.

Skelly looked like a slam-dunk in the Aristides – until Closethegame Sugar shut the door on him.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.