Thirty Thou Kelvin outlasts Root Cause in Virginia Oaks

Thirty Thou Kelvin displayed speed, class, and a tremendous will to win in capturing Saturday's $250,000 Virginia Oaks for 3-year-old fillies traveling 1 1/8 miles at Colonial Downs.

The Oaks was one of six stakes contested over firm turf on a program highlighted by the Grade 3, $500,000 Virginia Derby.

Thirty Thou Kelvin went right to the front under jockey Trevor McCarthy and set fractions of 23.92 and 47.86 seconds while prompted lightly from the outside by Alpha Bella.

McCarthy asked for some more after a six-furlong clocking of 1:11.36, but Alpha Bella wouldn't go away easily. They turned into the stretch head and head before Thirty Thou Kelvin reasserted control.

The job was far from finished, however, as the closers began to make noise. Idea Generation loomed three wide with favored Mission of Joy to her outside and Root Cause snaking her way in between rivals.

Thirty Thou Kelvin refused to quit, though, and outlasted Root Cause by neck in 1:48.04 seconds. She paid $25.80 to win as the fifth choice in the race.

Alpha Bella was another neck back in third. She was followed home by Mission of Joy, Beautifulnavigator, Tufani, Idea Generation and Broadway Girls, who acted up badly in the gate prior to the start.

“I was really shocked to be on the lead,” McCarthy said in a post-race interview broadcast by Colonial. “When [Broadway Girls] reared up in the gate, I made sure I got a good break. When she broke in front, she turned off really good going into the first turn. She put up a great fight.”

A $145,000 buyback as a weanling, Thirty Thou Kelvin was purchased for $110,000 as a yearling. She raced twice for trainer Danny Gargan and four times for Jorge Abreu before being sent to John Terranova’s barn earlier this year.

Thirty Thou Kelvin entered the Oaks in excellent form having won her most recent race, Delaware’s Christiana Stakes on July 15. In a phone interview after the Oaks, Terranova said that he came into the race full of confidence as Thirty Thou Kelvin had been training superbly at Saratoga in recent weeks.

Bred in Kentucky by Horseshoe Racing and owned by SJB Stable, Thirty Thou Kelvin is out of stakes-placed turf sprinter Wealthy Shipman. The second dam, Opening Bid, was a stakes-winning miler on turf at Santa Anita.

Thirty Thou Kelvin has won 4 of 11 starts for lifetime earnings of $387,640.

*Da Hoss Stakes

Nobals snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the waning strides of the $150,000 Da Hoss Stakes for 3-year-olds and upward at 5 1/2 furlongs.

Trained by Larry Rivelli for Patricias Hope LLC, Nobals settled outside pacesetter Souper Quest through an opening quarter in 21.85 seconds with Alogon situated behind them in a lovely pocket position.

Jockey Pablo Morales started shoving on Nobals as Souper Quest shook away late on the turn, and it appeared that Nobals was destined to disappoint the chalkplayers.

Alogon eased off the inside, passed Souper Quest after a half-mile clocking of 43.83, and appeared on his way to the winner's circle.

Morales stayed busy on Nobals, however, and the gelding responded with a last-ditch effort on the outside to catch Alogon on the line by a head in 1:01.46 seconds. Souper Quest lasted for third, 1 3/4 lengths behind Alogon.

Then came Biz Biz Buzz, Maya Prince, Yes and Yes, Momos and High Limit Room. Alexis S and Outlaw Kid scratched. Nobals returned $4.40 to win.

"I had instructions to be aggressive on him," Morales said in a post-race interview broadcast by Colonial Downs. "I really came out of there sending hard and I felt like he was giving me everything he's got. [Souper Quest] was just showing more speed effortlessly so even though I was letting my horse roll, I didn't keep pushing as hard. My horse was just all class."

Bred in Kentucky by Dr. John Chandler, Nobals is a 4-year-old by Noble Mission. Purchased for only $3,500 as a yearling, Nobals was privately acquired by Patricias Hope following a debut victory at Presque Isle Downs during the summer of 2021.

Nobals has now won seven stakes for Rivelli over synthetic and turf including the Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint at Churchill on May 6. In his final prep before the Da Hoss, Nobals placed second, beaten three-quarters of a length by Cogburn in Saratoga's Grade 3 Troy on Aug. 5.

It was a last-minute decision to race Nobals in the Da Hoss as Rivelli was torn between running the gelding in Saturday's Grade 2, $1,000,000 Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs against stablemate One Timer.

Rivelli made the right move, one that could propel Nobals to the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

In other stakes action:

*No Nay Mets ($2.60) won like an odds-on shot should in the $125,000 Rosie’s for 2-year-olds at 5 1/2 furlongs.

The No Nay Never colt is extremely fast from the gate, and he bounced out to the lead and the rail while pressured by King Kontie through fractions of 21.45 and 44.06 seconds.

Jockey Paco Lopez took a confident peek back turning into the stretch, and No Nay Mets was soon clear of King Kontie. Lopez asked the favorite for some more in the final furlong, and No Nay Mets streaked under the wire 3 1/4 lengths better than Toupie. Air Recruit was another 3 3/4 lengths back in third.

Bred in Ireland by Coolmore, No Nay Mets is owned by Bregman Family Racing and WWBD LLC. A debut winner of the Royal Palm Juvenile Stakes at Gulfstream on May 13, No Nay Mets then shipped to Royal Ascot, where he finished ninth in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes.

Trainer George Weaver regrouped, sent No Nay Mets to Monmouth for the Tyro on July 30, and the colt responded with a facile 5 1/2-length victory. It looks likely that No Nay Mets will contest the Grade 1, $1,000,000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 3.

*** Benefiting from a perfect ride from Jorge Ruiz, Tok Tok ($12.40) remained unbeaten from two starts with a 1 1/4-length win over hard-charging Triple Espresso in the $125,000 Kitten’s Joy Stakes for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf.

Tok Tok settled into a pace-tracking, ground-saving position behind pacesetter Determined Sail, tipped out into the stretch, then had enough in the tank to best the runner-up, a first-time starter trained by Todd Pletcher.

Conditioned by Graham Motion, Tok Tok made a winning career debut at Colonial traveling 5 1/2 furlongs on July 27. The bay colt is a Kentucky homebred owned by Wertheimer Et Frere.

Tok Tok is a son of Quality Road out of In Tune, a Grade 2 winner at nine furlongs on dirt that captured all three lifetime starts. In Tune was also bred and owned by Wertheimer Et Frere. She hails from the female family of multiple Grade 1 winner Rubiano.

Triple Espresso ran very well to be second. The Omaha Beach colt, trained by Todd Pletcher, appeared to be spinning his wheels on the second turn, but he kicked strongly on the far outside in the final three-sixteenths of a mile.

*** McCarthy earned another stakes victory when his mount, Starting Over, got the jump on the closers in the $150,000 Colonial Cup for 3-year-olds and upward at 1 1/2 miles over the inner turf. The Colonial Cup was the final race of the 2023 season at Colonial Downs.

A 6-year-old gelding by Liam’s Map, Starting Over was placed perfectly in pocket position before pouncing on pacesetter Temple turning into the stretch.

Starting Over soon grabbed the lead and held sway to prevail by a length over stablemate Dynadrive in 2:29.30. McLovin edged pace Sy Dog for third.

Owned by Nice Guys Stables and trained by Michael Maker, Starting Over was third in the Grade 2 San Marcos at Santa Anita in 2021 when trained by Robbie Falcone.

The Colonial Cup was Starting Over’s third start for Maker after a pair of fourth-place finishes in allowance company. He has won 4 times from 21 starts for earnings of $370,257 and is the latest in a long line of Maker-trained horses that improved drastically once stretched out to longer-distance races.