Gin Gin takes down Doubledogdare as longest price on the board

Gin Gin, easily the longest price in a seven-horse field, was the easiest of winners in the Grade 3, $400,000 Doubledogdare Stakes on Friday at Keeneland.

Gin Gin perched just off early leader Just F Y I in the 1 1/16-mile Doubledogdare, took over when Just F Y I was eased out of the race going into the far turn, and never received a challenge thereafter, capturing this older filly-and-mare fixture by 5 1/4 lengths under Jose Ortiz.

Gin Gin, a Calumet Farm homebred, was racing for the first time since Jan. 25 and turned in the best race of her career in her first start for trainer Brendan Walsh. Asked about his tactical decisions, Ortiz kept it simple.

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“The most important thing was I had a lot of horse,” Ortiz said.

Tarifa, the third choice in the betting, rallied mildly from last to finish second by a half-length over second choice Candied. Favored at 9-5, Just F Y I made a comfortable lead before something went amiss past the half-mile pole, though Just F Y I did not appear to suffer an obvious injury.

Gin Gin paid $79.76, a considerably longer shot than Neon Icon, the second-longest price at 22-1. She was timed in 1:45.15 over a fast track.

Gin Gin won the Busanda Stakes early in 2024 but failed to progress in her subsequent races and after finishing 12th in the Kentucky Oaks last spring. Gin Gin didn’t start again until January, finishing tepid fifth in a second-level Fair Grounds allowance. Gin Gin soared to a new level in her first start for Walsh on Thursday.

Gin Gin is by the Calumet stallion Hightail and out of Before You Know it, by Hard Spun. Her Doubledogdare victory proved as definitive as it was surprising.

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