Manny Wah wins Duncan Kenner in turf debut

Manny Wah’s first 20 dirt starts looked pretty good, to the point he finished fifth in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and his two synthetic-surface tries weren’t bad, either, but Manny Wah might never have run better than he did in his turf debut Saturday at Fair Grounds.

Rallying from last under Miguel Mena, Manny Wah swept past Just Might and Readyforprimetime in the final half-furlong and won the $100,000 Duncan F. Kenner Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths. Manny Wah ran 5 1/2 furlongs on firm turf in 1:02.38 and paid $27.60.

“Today was our day. We took a shot to run him on the turf and it worked out good,” said winning trainer Wayne Catalano.

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As much as anything it might’ve been a lack of dirt sprint stakes on the Fair Grounds schedule that forced the hand of Catalano and owner Susan Moulton. Manny Wah is by Will Take Charge and out of the mare Battlefield Angel, a turf stakes winner, and Steve Leving, a bloodstock agent and jockey’s agent who advises Catalano and Moulton, had been urging a turf experiment, Catalano said.

Manny Wah broke all right but quickly dropped to last of seven as Just Right and Readyforprimetime commenced a speed duel that occupied them the entire race. The front-runners went 22.19 and passed the half mile in a fast 44.62, by which point Manny Wah had begun getting down to business. The rail wide open, he and Mena advanced steadily, finding a spot between the pace-chasers and the two leaders to switch outside Just Might and Readyforprimetime, blowing past them with an energetic run to the wire.

“I called on him in the stretch and he was rolling. He really loved the grass,” Mena said.

Just Might lost the war but won the pace battle by a head over Readyforprimetime. Then came Fast Boat, Born Great, Real Money, and favored Archidust, who never came close to reaching contention. As for Manny Wah, he appeared to reach a new peak, loving his first run over a grass course.