Owendale surprises in Lexington Stakes
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Owendale ran the best race of his young life Saturday in winning the Lexington Stakes before a packed house at Keeneland – but the runner-up, Anothertwistafate, might have won something big, too.
Using a sweeping outside run on the final turn, Owendale finished 1 3/4 lengths ahead of favored Anothertwistafate in the 38th running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Lexington, a race with last-minute implications on the Kentucky Derby picture. The winner returned $27.40 after finishing the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:44.14 over a fast track.
Owendale earned the 20 Derby qualifying points at stake with his breakthrough win – the Into Mischief colt had collected no prior points and remains well shy of what figures to be a sufficient number to crack the 20-horse lineup – and could be headed to the May 19 Preakness, trainer Brad Cox said from Arkansas.
Meanwhile, the eight points earned by Anothertwistafate for getting second in a field of 10 3-year-olds just might be enough to make the May 4 race at Churchill Downs, as it boosts his total to 38. A clearer Derby picture was expected after the Arkansas Derby was run late Saturday.
Blaine Wright, trainer of Anothertwistafate, said about an hour afterward that “obviously we’ll be highly considering” running in the Derby if the colt has enough points.
In any case, the day belonged to Owendale, a bay colt owned by the Rupp Racing of Jim Rupp. Well reserved in ninth off the early pace under Florent Geroux, he looped most of his rivals before drawing even near the quarter-pole with Knicks Go, who had assumed command from early leader Hawaiian Noises on the far turn.
“I just tipped him out, tapped him twice” near the half-mile pole, said Geroux. “He ran a very good race.”
In the upper stretch, Owendale quickly blew it open, with Anothertwistafate, the 7-5 favorite, extricating himself from a spot or two of traffic to finish another 1 1/4 lengths before the 7-2 second choice, Sueno. Knicks Go faded to fourth and was followed by Shang, Roiland, Harvey Wallbanger, Zenden, Hawaiian Noises, and Chase the Ghost.
Sueno earned four Derby points for Silverton Hill Farm and trainer Keith Desormeaux and now has 32, which appears to be too few, although stranger things have happened since Churchill instituted its points system in 2013. In the case of Anothertwistafate, even if his 38 points aren’t enough to make the Derby, the Scat Daddy colt has automatic entry into the Preakness by virtue of an earlier victory in the El Camino Real Derby at his home track, Golden Gate Fields.
Owendale, who wintered at Fair Grounds in New Orleans with Cox’s main string, won two of six starts to open his career but had finished eighth in his stakes debut there, the Feb. 16 Risen Star, effectively eliminating him from the Kentucky Derby discussion. The colt’s two prior wins came in a September maiden race at Indiana Grand and a January allowance at Fair Grounds.
The $2 exacta (8-4) paid $100.60, the $1 trifecta (8-4-3) returned $203.70, and the 10-cent superfecta (8-4-3-7) was worth $193.67.
Ontrack attendance on a hazy afternoon with temperatures in the 60s totaled 34,527, just shy of the 34,775 who showed up here the previous Saturday for the Blue Grass Stakes. The 16-day meet runs through April 26.
