Excessivespending notches first stakes win in Nelson J. Menard

Things didn’t work out all for trainer Chris Hartman and jockey Mitchell Murrill in the $60,000 Lloyd “Captain” Maestri Stakes, where 6-5 Corruze, ridden by Mitchell for Hartman, finished fifth of six. But two races later, in the $75,000 Nelson J. Menard Stakes, the plan unfolded ideally as Murrill piloted Excesssivespending to a half-length victory.

“She’s difficult to ride and Mitchell put a perfect ride on her today,” Hartman said.

Murrill’s first shot on Excessivespending came Jan. 5 in the Pan Zareta Stakes, where Excessivespending made the lead at the stretch call, only to be tagged late by a pair of rivals.

“I kind of squeezed on her a little too soon,” said Murrill. “Today we were able to figure it out and adjust.”

Murrill positioned Excessivespending midpack and between horses down the backstretch and into the far turn of this turf sprint. He shifted his mount outside before the quarter pole, nudging She’s All Skeet out of the way for clear sailing, but didn’t ask Excessivespending to give her all until he’d passed the three-sixteenths pole. Excessivespending never unleashed a major turn of foot but finished steadily to get the money.

Oxford Comma tracked pace-setting Fiesta through a quarter-mile in 22.01 seconds before latching onto the early leader at the quarter pole and fending off a midstretch bid from La Dame Blanche only to be run down by the winner coming on the outside. Tepid favorite Oxford Comma was a neck better than La Dame Planche for the place as Golden Days and She’s All Skeet dead-heated for fourth. Contributing, who was 5-2 after winning the Pan Zareta last out, was sixth.

Excessivespending ($10.20) clocked 1:04.25 over about 5 1/2 furlongs on firm turf with the temporary rail set at 15 feet. A 5-year-old by Shackleford out of Excessing, by In Excess, Excessivespending moved her career mark to 6-4-2 from 23 starts, notching her first stakes win for owner Joey Keith Davis.

As for Corruze, he floundered, albeit with a difficult stop-and-start wide-without-cover trip while trying two turns for the first time in the one-mile Menard for 3-year-olds. As Murrill held Corrzue off pace-setting Vivid Verse, another stretchout sprinter, Joe Rocco Jr. made a backstretch move on Spectacular Gem to assume command after a half-mile in 49.61 seconds. That move looked enterprising – until Grand Marquee came off the fence at the eighth pole under Florent Geroux and ran down Spectacular Gem to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

Tiring, Spectacular Gem just held second over Bluegrass Parkway, with Vivid Verse a close fourth. Marquee Prince was timed in 1:39.48 for about one mile. Courtyard and West Texas, both likely entered hoping for a rain-off onto dirt, were scratched.

Geroux rode Marquee Prince ($6.20) for owners Rick, Donna, and Jeff Awtrey and trainer Brad Cox. Marquee Prince, a son of Cairo Prince and Try to Remember, by Include, won for the third time in six starts. He’d turned in modest dirt performances to end his 2-year-old campaign in the Springboard Mile at Remington and the Street Sense at Churchill Downs, and even a 12-length first-level turf allowance romp at Churchill was difficult to read since only three rivals contested that race.