Rattle N Roll back on his game with strong Ben Ali score
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Rattle N Roll made his fondness for Keeneland known early in a career that continues to blossom. The son of Connect won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity here in the fall of 2021, and some 18 months later, he was collecting a second graded victory by driving to victory Saturday in the 92nd running of the Grade 3, $300,000 Ben Ali Stakes.
“When this horse gets into his rhythm, you just stay out of his way,” winning jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. said after Rattle N Roll, the 5-2 second choice in a field of seven older horses, prevailed by 1 1/4 lengths over 16-1 shot Call Me Fast. “He was there traveling for me the whole way, so he just navigated his way through traffic the way I needed him to.”
Rattle N Roll, owned by the Lucky Seven Stable of the Mackin family, returned $7.98 after finishing the 1 3/16-mile distance in 1:56.48 over a fast main track. Call Me Fast was another half-length ahead of pacesetting Pioneer of Medina in third, while Skippylongstocking, the 17-10 favorite under Irad Ortiz Jr., had no mishap when fifth.
Aside from his Grade 1 score here at 2, Rattle N Roll won three derbies from 10 starts last year at 3 – the American Derby, St. Louis Derby, and Oklahoma Derby – prior to getting a few months off this winter. He returned March 25 with a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 New Orleans Classic.
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“He just needed that run down at the Fair Grounds,” said his trainer, Kenny McPeek. “We’ve kind of been plotting for this race for quite a while because we thought it’d be a really good spot for him.”
Rattle N Roll now has won 6 of 16 overall starts and earned $1,215,861.
The $2 exacta (5-3) paid $114.12, the $1 trifecta (5-3-1) returned $325.58, and the 10-cent superfecta (5-3-1-6) was worth $172.66.
This was the last Saturday of a 15-day spring meet that ends Friday. Churchill Downs starts its spring meet next Saturday night.
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