Twilight Blue edges Intrepid Heart in Fort Larned Stakes
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
It came down to an intramural battle, the $250,000 Fort Larned Stakes at Churchill Downs on Saturday, with Twilight Blue winning a photo finish over his stablemate, Intrepid Heart.
The pair hooked up in midstretch and ran to the finish together in this 1 3/16-mile contest for older horses, Twilight Blue just turning back Intrepid Heart while showing stamina and gameness, winning his first stakes race while racing beyond 1 1/16 miles for the first time.
“It was nice to get the victory today, but always tough when you beat your stablemate,” trainer Joe Sharp said.
Brian Hernandez Jr., aboard victorious Dalika earlier in the card in the Grade 1 Beverly D., rode the winner, his third of the day. Hernandez was the regular rider for this race’s namesake, Fort Larned, and won the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic aboard him.
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Twilight Blue likely isn’t BC Classic material, but he has emerged as a fairly serious 4-year-old this season for owner Carl Moore.
Twilight Blue on paper looked like the controlling speed in the Fort Larned and did make the early lead, but 47-1 shot Artemus Eagle came up the rail into the turn to put his nose in front, leading onto the backstretch before Twilight Blue got back on top to post a half-mile split on a slow 49.11.
Artemus Eagle retreated early on the second turn, at which point Intrepid Heart moved forward, coming alongside Twilight Blue before the quarter pole. The two ran in tandem the length of the stretch, Twilight Blue just doing slightly better in the final strides to win by a head.
King Fury dove to the inside at the eighth pole to make a run, but could do no better than third, finishing 1 1/4 lengths behind the Sharp duo. Winning time over a fast track was 1:57.09 and Twilight Blue, taking all the late win money, paid $4.76.
Twilight Blue, bred in Kentucky by Knowles Bloodstock, is a son of Air Force Blue and the Rahy mare, Lily the Pink. After the brave victory, he walked back to the same barn with the horse he’d just beaten.