Falconet wins Groupie Doll in day of upsets at Ellis Park

On a day full of upsets at Ellis Park, Falconet ($17.10) swept to victory against a solid field in the $150,000 Groupie Doll Stakes, and the regally bred Stage Raider ($40.34) split horses to take the $100,000 R.A. "Cowboy" Jones Stakes on Sunday evening.

The two one-mile races for older horses were featured events on a six-stakes card, with none of those won by the favorite. The afternoon, which also included a massive upset by Baytown Chatterbox ($123.06) in the $150,000 Ellis Park Juvenile, resulted in a carryover of $122,714 in the Pick 5 and $77,739 in the Pick 6 Jackpot heading into the next day of racing, Aug. 18.

Falconet shipped in for the Groupie Doll for trainer Todd Pletcher, and had Gerardo Corrales in the irons. The duo were fourth, set to make a bid from two lengths back, at the quarter pole, as up front Coastal Charm had inherited the lead from Non Violence after dogging the latter through opening splits of 23.96 seconds for the quarter and 47.41 seconds for the half.

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Coastal Charm didn't have time to get comfortable on the lead, as she was set upon by graded stakes winner Hidden Connection, who had rallied five wide to take a brief lead in the stretch. But Falconet split horses and drove by Hidden Connection, kicking clear in the final yards for a 1 1/4-length win.

The time for the mile at the 1 1/2-turn configuration it is contested over at Ellis was 1:36.95.

Hidden Connection held second by a nose over favored Interstatedaydream, who had been steadied back on the backstretch, trailed the field around the turn, and rallied widest of all in the stretch for third. The top three were followed, in order, by Ice Orchid, Coastal Charm, Be Like Water, and Non Violence.

Falconet, by Uncle Mo, races for breeder WinStar Farm in partnership with China Horse Club. The 4-year-old filly, who was graded stakes-placed last year, won the Ladies Stakes and Top Flight Stakes at Aqueduct earlier this year, but had most recently been seen finishing fourth behind Interstatedaydream in the Allaire DuPont Distaff in May at Pimlico, resulting in her being dismissed on the odds board. The consistent filly's lifetime record is now 11-5-4-0.

One race earlier, Stage Raider, making his first start for Cherie DeVaux, found a seam in the lane and drove clear for a two-length win in the Cowboy Jones Stakes.

Stage Raider, by Pioneerof the Nile, is a half-brother to 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. After he failed to meet his reserve at the 2019 Keeneland September yearling sale, breeder John Gunther retained Stage Raider to race, and the horse won two of his first three starts for trainer Chad Brown in 2021.

However, he won just once from six starts in 2022 and the first half of 2023, all at the allowance-optional claiming level. Following a sixth-place finish in June at Belmont, Gunther transferred Stage Raider from Brown to former assistant DeVaux. Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., aboard for the first time on Sunday, said DeVaux indicated the horse can be "a little difficult" and temperamental.

"I talked to Cherie this morning, and she said she's been getting along with him, and it seems like he's happy," Hernandez said. The rider added that he worked to keep the horse happy pre-race in the post parade, and knowing Stage Raider was coming off a layoff, "just kind of let him get his legs under him."

The complexion of the race changed when speedy multiple stakes winner Zozos was scratched, but Stage Raider, who raced in the vanguard early while saving ground, had plenty of targets up front, as post-time favorite Best Actor took the field through a contested opening half of 46.74. Graded stakes winner Here Mi Sing rallied around the turn and swept to the lead by a length at the quarter pole, appearing ready to bounce away. But Stage Raider was full of run when Hernandez found a seam, and burst through to win going away. He stopped the clock in 1:35.95.

Big Blue Line rallied from fifth in the stretch to be second by a neck over Seize the Night. Best Actor was fourth, followed by Here Mi Song, who couldn't sustain the bid, King of Change, and Kupuna.

Trainer Brian Lynch saddled three winners at Ellis on Sunday, with two of those in stakes - Tumbarumba ($9.40) in the day's richest event, the $250,000 Ellis Park Derby, and Hot Beach ($6.40) in the $150,000 Ellis Park Debutante.

Tumbarumba settled beautifully behind a hot early pace for Rafael Bejarano, shifted out for a well-timed bid in the stretch, and won by three-quarters of a length for his third victory in his last four starts.

“He threw a clunker here in the Maxfield Stakes over a sloppy track,” Lynch said of the only loss in that span. “I drove home gutted after that. But we got a fast, dry track today. He worked together with Oscar Eclipse the other day, and he won earlier on the card. Tumbarumba worked better than he did. When [Oscar Eclipse won an allowance on the card], I was very confident he’d run well. There isn’t any quit to him.”

Hot Beach, from the first crop of the well-regarded Omaha Beach, was a two-length winner of the Debutante to break her maiden under Declan Cannon.

In the brother race to the Debutante, Baytown Chatterbox sprang a massive upset for trainer Paul McEntee, driving past Coulditbemajic and favored Call Me Andy in the lane under Tyler Heard to win by 2 1/2 lengths as by far the longest shot on the board. Bejarano, aboard the runner-up, claimed foul on the winner for some shifting near the three-sixteenths pole, but it was disallowed.

Rounding out the action, Positano Sunset ($15.38), who was seventh of nine with three furlongs remaining in the $150,000 Audubon Oaks, split horses in the lane for a one-length win. Chris Landeros was in the irons for trainer Ian Wilkes.

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