Elate favored in Spinster as she gears up for the Breeders' Cup

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Walker Hancock has no special recollections of Spinsters past – only the knowledge that what happens here Sunday at Keeneland is a very big deal.

“Its history and prestige is about as good as it gets,” said Hancock, the Claiborne Farm president whose family will be represented by Elate, the solid favorite in the 64th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Spinster Stakes. “It’s a marquee race, that’s for sure.”

Trained by Bill Mott for the partnership of Claiborne and Adele Dilschneider, Elate will have Jose Ortiz aboard as usual when she breaks from the outside post in a field of just five fillies and mares in the 1 1/8-mile Spinster. This will be the first start for the 5-year-old mare since she and her nemesis Midnight Bisou hooked up on Travers Day at Saratoga in an unforgettable renewal of the Personal Ensign.

“That’ll be an all-time great race that they’ll be replaying over and over,” said Hancock, who assumed the Claiborne helm from his father, Seth, in 2015. “It’s too bad we came up a nose short, but we couldn’t have been more proud of her.”

Off that sterling effort, which equated to a 104 Beyer Speed Figure, Elate will be using the Spinster as her final prep for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff or Classic, both to be run Nov. 2 at Santa Anita. The Spinster is a Win and You’re In for the Distaff.

“The Breeders’ Cup will be her last race,” said Hancock. “We finally had a solid year with her,” referring to stops and starts at 3 and 4. “She’s coming into this very well and we’re excited to see her run Sunday and seeing what she can do in California.”

In all, Elate, a homebred daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, has seven wins and six seconds from 17 starts for earnings of more than $2.2 million.

Three of the four Spinster rivals for Elate are Grade 1 winners, with Vexatious (post 3, Adam Beschizza) being the lone exception – so this is certainly no gimme.

Dunbar Road (post 1, Javier Castellano) is seeking to become the first 3-year-old to win the Spinster since Emollient won for Mott and Juddmonte in 2013. A Quality Road filly, Dunbar Road was an emphatic 2 3/4-length winner under Ortiz in her last start, the Aug. 17 Alabama at Saratoga.

“We felt like this would be a good spot for her,” said trainer Chad Brown, seeking his first Spinster win. “She’s coming into the race the right way.”

She’s a Julie (post 4, Ricardo Santana Jr.) won the Grade 1 La Troienne on a huge Kentucky Derby weekend for Steve Asmussen. A distant third in the Personal Ensign, the 4-year-old Elusive Quality filly probably will default into the role of front-runner Sunday, given the lack of opposing speed.

Blue Prize (post 2, Joe Bravo) won the 2018 Spinster for Merriebelle Stable and trainer Ignacio Correas. The 6-year-old Argentine-bred mare is entered in the Fasig-Tipton Sale on Nov. 5.

“We’d like to run back in the Breeders’ Cup,” said Correas, “but first she must show she can be competitive with Elate and some of these other top horses.”

With such a short field, the Spinster could turn into into a jockeys’ race. For her part, Elate has a useful turn of foot and figures to assume a good position from just behind She’s a Julie.

“A lot of times a short field can make for a tricky race,” said Hancock. “With all the Grade 1 winners in there, we’re going to have to outrun some good horses.”

The Spinster, the ninth of 10 races, is the last of three straight Sunday stakes. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the Spinster going at 5:45 p.m. NBC Sports will have live coverage on a 90-minute show starting at 4:30 p.m.

The preceding stakes, both Win and You’re In events for 2-year-olds on turf, are the $200,000 Indian Summer (race 7) at 5 1/2 furlongs and the Grade 3, $250,000 Bourbon (race 8) at 1 1/16 miles. The Bourbon will be part of the NBC broadcast.

The Spinster long has been a key race in the filly-mare division. The only Claiborne winner, Doubledogdare, came in the inaugural running in 1956, when Seth Hancock was a mere lad himself. Other notable winners include Bowl of Flowers (1961), Susan’s Girl (1975), Bold ’n Determined (1980), Bayakoa (1989-90), and Azeri (2004).

Thundershowers and a high temperature of 79 are in the Sunday forecast. Although rain conceivably could make a mess of things after a couple of beautiful weather days (Friday and Saturday) to open the 17-day fall meet, no one will be complaining too loudly, given the drought conditions that have plagued this region for weeks.