Dingdingdingding gives owners first stakes win in Forego

Dingdingdingding, still eligible for first-level allowances, gave his connections their first stakes victory Saturday night when running off to a 25-1 upset in the 32nd running of the $50,000 Forego Stakes at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky.

Always in contention in the 6 1/2-furlong Polytrack race with Gabriel Lagunes aboard, Dingdingdingding took over for the front-running Mesoma after turning for home and proceeded to a 1 3/4-length score over Batten the Hatches. Six Spot was third, while Doubledown Again, the 4-5 favorite in a field of 12 older horses, never was a factor when ninth.

The triumph was the first in a stakes for trainer Marshall Godsey, who co-owns Dingdingdingding with Chester Thomas as Allied Racing Stable LLC. It was the owners’ first stakes win, while Lagunes, who began riding in the U.S. in 2006, registered his 10th stakes win.

“I thought he ran a real nice race,” Godsey, a trainer since 1990, told Turfway publicity afterward. “It set up good for him. He was the only 4-year-old in the race and the only horse with just one win, so I thought he might have been outclassed, but he ran a classy race himself. I think he has a good future ahead of him.”

Dingdingdingding, a dark bay gelding by Candy Ride, finished in 1:17.53 and returned $53.40 to win. He came into the Forego with eight prior starts, his lone victory coming in a maiden race at Ellis Park in August.

The $2 exacta (5-8) paid $447, the $1 trifecta (5-8-2) returned $1,859.20, and the 10-cent superfecta (5-8-2-1) was worth $1,083.94.