Du Jour reaches millionaire status with Kilroe Mile win

ARCADIA, Calif. – Du Jour had an ideal comeback after a four-month layoff to win his third stakes in the last four starts in Sunday’s Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf, part of a memorable day at Santa Anita for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

Du Jour was the second of three consecutive graded stakes wins for Baffert on Sunday. Earlier on the program, he won Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds with Imagination. In the race after the Kilroe Mile, Baffert won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap with Newgate.

Du Jour’s only loss since last summer was a 10th in the Breeders’ Cup Mile in November in his final start of 2023. At Del Mar last July and August, Du Jour won consecutive starts in the restricted Wickerr Stakes and the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile.

:: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports

The Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile, with a purse of $301,500, was Du Jour’s first win in a race at the highest level. The Kilroe Mile is the leading turf race of the winter-spring meeting at Santa Anita.

Du Jour closed from sixth in a field of eight under jockey Flavien Prat, who guided the 6-year-old gelding on the inside on the turn before taking the lead in early stretch.

Du Jour ($8.40) led by a half-length with a furlong remaining and won by two lengths over 3-2 favorite Easter, a winner of his three previous starts, all in stakes.

Du Jour was timed in 1:33.95 on a course rated good and notched a new top Beyer Speed Figure with a 103. The Kilroe Mile was originally scheduled for Saturday, but the program was postponed because of rain.

The style of the win was comparable to Du Jour’s two stakes wins at Del Mar last summer.

“He runs well fresh,” Prat said. “It looked on paper that the race would have a good pace.

“I had him in a comfortable zone and he showed his turn of foot. It was a dream trip. Everything opened up for him.”

Easter was favored on the strength of wins in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar on Nov. 25, and the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26 in his last two starts.

Easter was last of eight early in the Kilroe. He closed with a wide run on the turn to be nearest the front at the finish.

“He had to go wide and that was the difference,” trainer Phil D’Amato said.

Ah Jeez, the longest shot in the field at 61-1, closed from last on the turn to finish third, beaten 3 3/4 lengths.

First Peace finished fourth, followed by Dandy Man Shines, Goliad, Prince Abama, and Mackinnon. Irideo, the winner of the restricted Clocker’s Corner Stakes on the hillside turf course on Jan. 28, was scratched early Sunday afternoon.

Goliad, who won the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at a mile on turf on Feb. 3, took his customary position at the front in the Kilroe, setting fractions of 22.82 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 45.75 for a half-mile. He led into the stretch, but could not sustain the effort, losing by 8 1/4 lengths.

Du Jour, owned by Baffert’s wife Jill and Debbie Lanni, has won 6 of 16 starts and earned $1,118,220. The winner’s share of $180,000 in the Kilroe put Du Jour past seven-figures in career earnings.

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