Tejano Twist takes Bet On Sunshine; Bango has to settle for third
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Tejano Twist, who has finished behind Bango twice this season, got a measure of revenge with a rallying 1 1/2-length victory in the $300,000 Bet On Sunshine Stakes on Saturday evening at Churchill Downs.
Local favorite Bango finished third, and thus will have to wait for another day to become the winningest horse in recorded Churchill Downs history. Bango has won 11 races, including six stakes, at Churchill and is tied with Ready's Rocket for most wins.
“He ran a good race just wasn’t good enough tonight,” Bango’s trainer Greg Foley told Churchill Downs.
Bango and jockey Mitchell Murrill were sitting third as the field reached the quarter pole, a length off Sir Alfred James, who had taken the field through an opening half in 44.73 seconds. Bango made a sweeping move to come to the lead in the stretch and bounded away by a length.
But Tejano Twist, who had been eighth at the quarter pole under patient handling from Chris Landeros, tipped out into the middle of the track for clear sailing, and was full of run. He caught up to the favorite, and powered clear in the final stages as Bango weakened. Miles Ahead, who moved from mid-pack, also made up ground late, and finished a length clear of Bango in second.
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The final time for the six furlongs on a fast track was 1:09.27.
Tejano Twist ($11.36), a stakes winner at both 2 and 3, scored his biggest career win in the Grade 3 Whitmore Stakes in March at Oaklawn Park for trainer Chris Hartman. He followed up by finishing third in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn, then was third in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes, won by Cody's Wish, who scored a repeat victory earlier Saturday in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.
More recently, Tejano Twist has been tangling with Bango and others on the Kentucky circuit. He finished third in the Aristides Stakes in June at Churchill behind Gunite and Bang, then was fourth in the Kelly's Landing Stakes won by Bango in July at Ellis Park.
“He ran great,” Hartman said. “He’s had a really good year and this was a great addition to it.”
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