Somerset West beats the crowd at finish in Music City
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FRANKLIN, Ky. – Longshot Somerset West won a five-horse blanket finish that did not include 1-2 favorite Cy Fair in the Music City, the last of five stakes on Saturday at Kentucky Downs.
A 19-1 shot shipped from California by trainer John Sadler, Somerset West rallied widest and best in the Grade 2, $1.235 million Music City, getting up by a half-length under Luis Saez.
Lion Lake, who was 12-1, finished second by a head over 19-1 Ground Support, with Sapphire Beach a half-length farther back and a nose in front of Light Won Up. Three-quarters of a length behind her came Cy Fair, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner last year who, after two sharp wins this summer, expanded her horizons to try a 6 1/2-furlong contest – a furlong farther than she’d ever raced – over the unconventional, European-style course here.
Somerset West, by Kantharos out of Constantia, by Munnings, campaigns for her breeder, Keith Abrahams, who said he’s been breeding horses for more than 30 years. Abrahams recalled Constantia running once at Kentucky Downs; she did, fifth in the 2021 Ladies Turf Sprint.
That race was contested over the same 6 1/2 furlongs as the Music City, restricted to 3-year-old fillies, and Somerset West showing up here at all was somewhat unconventional.
After three solid runs over six and 6 1/2 furlongs, Somerset Beach won a maiden sprint, then stretched out to one mile and went last to first July 18 in the Grade 2 San Clemente at Del Mar. Most San Clemente winners, Abrahams pointed out, go on to the Del Mar Oaks, but that nine-furlong race seemed too far for Somerset West. Abrahams and Sadler decided to cut her back and send her on the road.
As Light Won Up and Sapphire Beach volleyed for the lead, Saez, who picked up the mount, had Somerset West positioned eighth and ninth, well off the gallop. Saez kept it simple, keeping to the far outside as his mount gained momentum into the homestretch, and when Somerset West took the little dogleg that ends races at Kentucky Downs, she took it like a seasoned pro, surging to victory.
Somerset West was timed in 1:15.80 over firm turf and paid $102.45 per $5 base win bet.
As for Cy Fair, she broke slightly flat-footed from the rail, leaving her in a bad spot from the start, third back from the leader, buried behind horses. Cy Fair had her path blocked most of the homestretch, and, when finally provided a lane, didn’t quicken like she usually does. This race didn’t go her way, nor did the filly run to her best form.
“She just never really had room in the stretch to go anywhere,” trainer George Weaver said. “She didn’t get beat that far. She’s still special, and we’ll go on to the Breeders Cup.”
Somerset West will go back to California. She doesn’t seem like a Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint type, but she goes home with a bankroll about $866,000 larger than it was when she came.
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