Turnerloose ends 14-race win drought with Luther Burbank Stakes

Turnerloose ended a 14-race losing streak since the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes in March 2022 with a sharp victory in Saturday’s $75,000 Luther Burbank Stakes for fillies and mares on turf at the Sonoma county fair in Santa Rosa, Calif.

Turnerloose ($5.20) closed from third in a field of five under jockey Alexander Chavez to win the Burbank Stakes by 2 1/2 lengths despite drifting out while leading in the final furlong.

Sent off favored, Turnerloose ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.97 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 83. Delusively, the only runner in a field of five based in Northern California, finished second at 8-1, a half-length in front of 2-1 Lakota Spirit. Grace Period finished fourth, followed by Leisurewear.

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Southern California-based Phil D’Amato trains Turnerloose, Lakota Spirit, and Leisurewear.

Leisurewear set a slow early pace of 24.32 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 49.16 for a half-mile, closely tracked by Grace Period. Turnerloose was third on the backstretch and rallied with a three-wide move to reach the front in early stretch.

Turnerloose, a 5-year-old mare by Nyquist, races for the partnership of Abbondanza Racing, Medallion Racing and Ike and Dawn Thrash.

Turnerloose was trained by Brad Cox through 2022, a span of her career that included a win in the $500,000 Juvenile Fillies Stakes at Kentucky Downs in 2021, the win in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds, and a seventh-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in May 2022.

With D’Amato, Turnerloose lost her eight starts before the Burbank Stakes, a span that included a second in the Grade 2 John Mabee Stakes at Del Mar last September.

Turnerloose has won 4 of 20 starts and earned $746,392.

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