Waggley overcomes trouble in short, scratched-down field to take Kentucky Juvenile
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Waggley found about as much trouble as she could find in a scratch-reduced three-horse field, and still prevailed in a long drive, posting a 1 3/4-length score in the $250,000 Kentucky Juvenile on Wednesday at Churchill Downs, the first stakes race of the year for 2-year-olds.
The Kentucky Juvenile scratched from its original field of eight entrants down to three starters. Bourbon Town and first-time starter Glory Run were listed as stakes scratches on Wednesday morning, with Skara Brae and Frontline Fury listed as regulatory vet scratches. Then, as the field warmed up, Peak Perspective was a late scratch on veterinary advice.
That left just three breaking from the starting gate, with Waggley ($2.13), the heavy favorite, between American Pope on the inside and Super Saiyajin on the outside. As the field raced down the backstretch, Super Saiyajin bumped Waggley and jockey Joel Rosario into American Pope. Waggley was pinched back between her two foes and clipped the heels of Super Saiyajin, doing well to keep on her feet.
Rosario moved Waggley into the clear on the outside, and she had to begin a long drive around the far turn to have a chance to contend. She edged to a half-length lead in front of Super Saiyajin, who refused to cave. The filly finally shook him off in the final sixteenth and drew clear to her final margin.
"I thought she was very brave today," Ben McElroy, the bloodstock agent who signed for the filly at auction last year on behalf of owner Ten Broeck Farm and trainer Wesley Ward, and who deputized in the winner's circle Wednesday. "I think it says a lot about her that she overcame it all."
Super Saiyajin held second by a head over American Pope, who made up some four lengths in the stretch.
Waggley's time for the five furlongs was 1:00.37 on a sloppy, sealed track after morning rain.
Waggley is from the first crop of the Into Mischief horse Life Is Good, an eight-time graded stakes winner whose first foals have been well-received. McElroy purchased her for $200,000 on behalf of Ten Broeck at last year's Keeneland September yearling sale. The filly was a 3 1/2-length debut winner, in one of the faster times of the meet, on April 8 at Keeneland for Ward, known for his prowess with early-season juveniles.
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