Favorites come through in two of three stakes
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A pair of odds-on favorites and a 12-1 shipper accounted for a trio of $275,000 stakes, all for 3-year-olds, Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Carribean Caper and King Fury both posted easy wins at short prices, after which Everett’s Song, in from Delaware, came through at a $27.60 mutuel.
All three were run over a fast main track amid perfect early-autumn conditions.
Dogwood Stakes
With jockey Colby Hernandez giving her just a couple of light strikes of his whip down the stretch, Carribean Caper ran her career record to 5 for 5 with a six-length romp over Someone Said So in the 45th Dogwood Stakes for fillies.
Trained by Al Stall Jr. for the Columbine Stable of Andrea Pollack, Carribean Caper relaxed just behind a trio of front-runners before looping them midway through the turn of the seven-furlong race. She then widened with minimal urging, finishing in 1:22.57 and returning $2.80 in a field of six.
“Around the turn when I called on her, she went on, as she always does,” said Hernandez. “It was all her.”
In order, Carribean Caper now has won a maiden race, two allowances, and two ungraded stakes. Stall said if all goes well, the daughter of Speightstown could make her next two starts in the Oct. 23 Raven Run at Keeneland and the Dec. 26 La Brea at Santa Anita.
Bourbon Trail Stakes
King Fury flaunted a substantial class edge over six male rivals in winning the first running of the Bourbon Trail by 13 lengths, finishing the 1 3/16-mile distance in 1:56.01 as the 1-2 favorite. Brian Hernandez Jr. was aboard the winner for trainer Kenny McPeek.
Racing in mid-pack for much of the way, King Fury took control at the quarter pole, striding out powerfully down the lane. Bourbon Thunder was second and Dr Jack was third.
“He was the best horse today,” said Hernandez. “Talented horses like him, if you just give them a good trip and stay out of their way, they do the rest.”
This was the third stakes win from 10 career starts for King Fury, a Curlin colt owned by Fern Circle Stables and Three Chimneys Farm. He won the Street Sense here last fall and the Grade 3 Lexington at Keeneland in April. He was coming off a fifth-place finish in the Aug. 28 Travers.
Harrods Creek Stakes
Giving jockey Pablo Morales his first win at Churchill, Everett’s Song swept to the front with 100 yards to go in winning the inaugural Harrods Creek in his stakes debut.
Eighth of 10 in the early stages of the seven-furlong race, Everett’s Song began gaining momentum through the turn before his outside surge carried him to a 2 3/4-length score. Hesmyhoneybadger and Ram both rallied late to be second and third, respectively.
Everett’s Song, a Liam’s Map gelding owned by SAB Stable and trained by Dale Bennett, finished in 1:22.68 for his third straight victory. Based at Delaware Park, he was coming off back-to-back wins at Pimlico in Maryland.
Morales, a winner of more than 2,200 races in the U.S. in a career dating to 2005, was riding his 16th race at Churchill and first since 2015.
“I knew I had a lot of horse,” he said. “I’m extremely happy about the whole thing.”