Unconquerable Keen leads all the way for first stakes win in Stormy Liberal

DEL MAR, Calif. – Unchallenged on the front, Unconquerable Keen led throughout Saturday’s $101,000 Stormy Liberal Stakes for turf sprinters at Del Mar, winning the first stakes of his career in a comfortable manner.

Ridden by Flavien Prat and sent off favored, Unconquerable Keen ($5.40) won by 1 3/4 lengths over 5-2 Turn On The Jets, giving trainer Phil D’Amato a sweep of the exacta.

Unconquerable Keen set a fair pace of 22.53 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 44.43 for a half-mile. He led by 1 1/2 lengths with a furlong remaining.

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“He’s very quick,” Prat said. “I was traveling well all the way. He took a nice breather on the turn and was good through the lane.”

Turn On the Jets finished three-quarters of a length in front of 9-5 Lane Way, who was followed by Daniel’s Magic, Honey Pants, Johnny Podres, and See Through It.

Unconquerable Keen finished five furlongs in 55.87 seconds and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 100.

Lane Way won the Eddie D Stakes, and was pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita last month, but did not start in the $1 million race.

Unconquerable Keen and Turn On the Jets are owned by partnerships. Michael Nentwig and John Rochfort are part of the groups that own both horses. Nentwig, Rochfort, and Omar Aldabbagh share ownership of Unconquerable Keen.

A 4-year-old Irish-bred gelding by the Danehill stallion Clodovil, Unconquerable Keen has won three of his last four starts, with the other wins in allowance races in turf sprints here in August and at Santa Anita on Oct. 20. The only loss in that span was a seventh-place finish in the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on the main turf oval at Santa Anita on Sept. 30.

Unconquerable Keen was a two-time winner in Ireland in 2021 and 2022 before joining D’Amato’s stable in the spring of 2022.

In his career, Unconquerable Keen has won 6 of 15 starts and earned $243,349.

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