Snapper Sinclair flies by late in Tourist Mile to score second Kentucky Downs stakes win

FRANKLIN, Ky. – It hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing since Snapper Sinclair won the Kentucky Downs Juvenile as a 2-year-old in 2017. At 4, the colt had yet to win another stakes.

That is, until he returned Saturday to the spacious and friendly environs of Kentucky Downs, where Snapper Sinclair is now 2 for 2 after launching a furious rally to win the opening-day feature of the Runhappy meet, the $750,000 Tourist Mile. Julien Leparoux was aboard.

Steve Asmussen trains Snapper Sinclair for the Bloom Racing Stable of Jeff Bloom.

“He’s such a deserving horse,” said Bloom. “He’s had some trips where he arguably could have been the winner, but he did it today.”

Under mostly sunny skies, and with a festive crowd on hand, Real Story opened daylight on his rivals midway through a long, sweeping turn. Even with 100 yards to go, he and jockey Joe Bravo were still clinging grimly to the lead, but then Snapper Sinclair came flying past to win by a half-length in a frantic finish. The top four horses were separated by a length, with First Premio running third and Hembree fourth in a field of 12 older horses.

Shuffled back leaving the backstretch, Snapper Sinclair still only had a rival or two beaten with a quarter-mile to go.

“He traveled very nice for me,” said Leparoux. “When I got him outside he finished up very strong for me. He won before, and today again. He ran a big race.”

“I love how the horse continued on, got back up underneath [Leparoux],” said Asmussen.

Snapper Sinclair, by City Zip, returned $22.80 after finishing in 1:37.95 over firm going. He now has won 5 of 18 overall starts after earning $440,640, nearly half of it from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund. All non-claiming/starter races at Kentucky Downs include sizable KTDF bonuses.

The $2 exacta (1-11) paid $229.40, the $1 trifecta (1-11-8) returned $1,548.70, and the 10-cent superfecta (1-11-8-4) was worth $884.34.

Some of the Tourist runners, including Snapper Sinclair and Real Story, can be expected to run back Oct. 5 at Keeneland in the $1 million Shadwell, a Win and You’re In event toward the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Mile.

The Tourist, named for the young WinStar Farm stallion who won the 2016 BC Mile at Santa Anita in record fashion, previously had been known as the More Than Ready Mile, and before that, the Franklin-Simpson Mile.

This is the first Kentucky Downs meet since the track was purchased last fall by Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone from a partnership headed by Corey Johnsen.