Road to Victory doesn't quit en route to Golden Rod Stakes win

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Road to Victory posted a hard-earned win in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs, keeping the pressure on unbeaten favorite Monomoy Girl the entire way and gamely re-rallying to wear her down in the final yards for a neck score.

Road to Victory ($16.40) was making her dirt debut after a front-running 3 1/2-length score on the Woodbine turf on Oct. 1. The Quality Road filly, a $500,000 purchase at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s April sale earlier this year, races for John Oxley and Gary Barber, both prominent clients of trainer Mark Casse.

"She had trained really well [on dirt]," said assistant Norman Casse, who has overseen Road to Victory's training at Churchill Downs. "The big question mark for the horses coming from Woodbine is whether or not they translate the way they've been breezing to the way they run in a race. ... I was optimistic about today, but it was a wait-and-see-type race.”

Monomoy Girl, who won the Rags to Riches Stakes on the lead on Churchill's opening weekend, was away smartly from post 6, and Florent Geroux used her speed early to clear the field, angling in to save ground into the first turn. But meanwhile Julien Leparoux worked Road to Victory, who broke just inside the favorite in post 5, outside to sit on Monomoy Girl’s hip, running comfortably in the clear as the two hit the opening pole together for a quarter in 23.81 seconds

"We knew that Florent was probably going to go, and was obviously the horse to beat," Casse said. "We said, ideally, we'll break sharp and maybe we can sit right behind her, and hopefully get outside of her. That was exactly what happened, and probably the best chance we had of winning the race."

Monomoy Girl continued to hold a measured lead, no more than a half-length ahead of Road to Victory, as the duo began to separate themselves from the field through a half in 46.87, and six furlongs in 1:11.11. Geroux set Monomoy Girl down once straightened away into the stretch, and the filly responded, shaking off her foe to extend her lead to its widest margin, 1 1/2 lengths in midstretch. But Road to Victory gamely re-rallied inside the furlong grounds and prevailed in the final stages.

"She kind of got away from us, but my filly tried hard and she came back," Leparoux said.

The final time for the 1 1/16-mile race was 1:43.36.

After the top two, it was 5 3/4 lengths back to Cash Out, and another two to Dessert Honeys to round out the superfecta.

With her victory, Road to Victory earned 10 points toward a spot in the 2018 Kentucky Oaks. Casse said the filly would winter with his father’s string in Florida while a road was plotted for her.