Vettori Kin gives McPeek fifth win in Louisville Handicap

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If Churchill Downs awarded rings rather than trophies for winning the Louisville Handicap, trainer Kenny McPeek could now cover every finger on one hand, having won five runnings since 2002.

That alone would have made his victory with Vettori Kin in Saturday’s race satisfying, but this year’s renewal went beyond that, as he also trained runner-up Harlan Strong, as well as fourth-place finisher Some in Tieme, who had won the race in 2017. Only a late close from longshot Bronson, who nailed favored Some in Tieme for the show position right before the wire, prevented a McPeek-trained trifecta in the Grade 3 event.

Vettori Kin was a deserving winner Saturday, in terms of his margin of victory – coming by 2 1/2 lengths – and taking into account that he was starting on less than a week’s rest after racing on May 13.

The quick turnaround never showed at any point in his Saturday performance. Fifth or sixth early for the first two thirds of the 1 1/2-mile Louisville Handicap, as Designed for War set a leisurely pace of 50.34, 1:15.81, and 1:41.44 over a firm turf course, the winner was given his cue leaving the far turn by jockey Julien Leparoux and began to rapidly advance. Around the eighth pole, he caught Harlan Strong, who had taken an early stretch lead, and he lengthened his advantage to the finish.

A 5-year-old son of Vettori owned by the partnership of Fern Circle Stables, Stud TNT, and Old Friends Inc., Vettori Kin ($8.60) raced 1 1/2 miles in 2:30.14. He notched his first U.S. stakes victory, though he was a Grade 1 winner in Brazil prior to coming to the U.S.

McPeek attributed his success in the Louisville Handicap over the years to acquiring horses from South America.

“The three that I ran here came from Brazil or Argentina,” he said. “And you know, they have just a really good stamina program down there, and bringing them here for a race like this is a really good spot for them.”

The winner relished the distance on Saturday – the first time he had raced longer than 1 1/8 miles since coming to the U.S. He had been a fast charging third going 1 1/16 miles on turf in a third-level allowance in his prior start.