Raging Bull starts off year with sharp Maker's Mark Mile victory

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Raging Bull fired hard off a five-month layoff Friday when given a textbook ride by Irad Ortiz Jr. as an emphatic winner of the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile on the Keeneland turf.

Mid-pack amid a field of nine older horses for much of the one-mile trip, Raging Bull found a seam between rivals nearing the quarter pole and quickly asserted his class, drawing off by two lengths in giving trainer Chad Brown his first Grade 1 victory of the year.

Ride a Comet put in a belated run to get second, a half-length before a second Brown trainee, Sacred Life, in a field of nine older horses. Raging Bull returned $9 as second choice when finishing in 1:33.86. Field Pass was fourth, while Hit the Road, the 5-2 favorite off a win in the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile, was never a major threat when fifth.

Raging Bull, a French-bred 6-year-old horse owned by Peter Brant, was making his first start since finishing 10th in the Breeders’ Cup Mile here last fall. It was the third Grade 1 victory of his career, following the 2018 Hollywood Derby and 2020 Shoemaker Mile.

“He broke sharp today, so I had an advantage from there,” said Ortiz. “The first turn, I let him run, and then I just slowed him down. He relaxed so well and he was like three or four lengths behind the leader, so I say, ‘I’m great, I’m just going to wait.’ By the three-eighths pole, I see some separation, so I go for it a little early, but he responded well and I still had something for the end.”

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On a warm and sunny spring afternoon, and over firm going, Get Smokin seized early command but was soon challenged by Somelikeithotbrown while Raging Bull bided his time along the inner rail. Turning for home, Raging Bull suddenly emerged as the one to beat, and he used his stout closing kick to win for the seventh time in 18 overall starts.

Although Brown has won numerous major stakes at Keeneland in recent years, particularly on the turf, this was his first win in the Maker’s Mark.

“Both horses ran great, especially given the layoffs they were facing,” said Brown, who watched from New York. “Raging Bull got a great trip and set-up. He’s much more effective with a solid pace in front of him.

“Irad deserves a lot of credit for getting him into the race early and securing a great spot into the first turn.”

The $2 exacta (8-6) paid $77.60, the $1 trifecta (8-6-4) returned $151.90, and the 10-cent superfecta (8-6-4-9) was worth $107.80.

Tobys Heart gets up in Limestone Turf Sprint

An hour earlier, Tobys Heart was along in the final 70 yards to collar Goin’ Good in the second running of the $100,000 Limestone Turf Sprint for 3-year-old fillies.

Ridden by Javier Castellano, Tobys Heart finished the 5 1/2-furlong distance in 1:02.29, returning $6.40 as favorite in a field of eight. Goin’ Good, who made the lead leaving the furlong pole, was a half-length behind the winner and another 1 3/4 lengths before Navratilova in third.

Tobys Heart, an eye-catching debut winner last June, was turning back from a sixth-place finish in the 1 1/16-mile Herecomesthebride in late February at Gulfstream Park.

“We got her back doing what she likes to do,” said trainer Brian Lynch, who co-owns Tobys Heart with Terry Hamilton and Gary Barber. “Hopefully the rest of the year is a good one for her.”

An original cast of 13 was reduced by five scratches, most notably the Stonestreet Stables pair of Carimba and Campanelle, both of them trained by Wesley Ward. Stonestreet said on its Twitter page that Campanelle, the 8-5 morning-line favorite for the Limestone, “wasn’t quite herself this morning,” adding it was still possible she could make the Royal Ascot meet in June.