It was a big day at Ellis Park for trainer Greg Foley on Saturday. He won the $225,000 Kelly's Landing Stakes with million-dollar-earner Bango, an 11-10 favorite owned by Tamaroak Partners. That horse was expected to win. Foley capped off the day at the Henderson, Ky., track with a 46-1 upset of the Grade 2, $400,000 Wise Dan Stakes with Stitched. Not many people saw that one coming, despite the late addition of Flavien Prat in the saddle.
Stitched, a 4-year-old Mizzen Mast colt bred in Kentucky by Nathan McCauley and owned by McCauley in partnership with Michael Olszewski and William J. Minton, rallied wide around the final turn and into the stretch to win the 1 1/16-mile Wise Dan in a shocker by a neck. Get Smokin, who set all the fractions, gave way stubbornly down the stretch and held second by one length as the 4-1 second choice ahead of even-money Set Piece, who was last early and made a belated rally to be third. Completing the order of finish were Hozier, Camp Hope, Harlan Estate, Kittansett, Play Action Pass, Tut's Revenge, and Cowboy Justice.
Stitched, winning for the sixth time in 13 starts, paid a whopping $94.50 after completing the 1 1/16 miles on good turf in 1:40.97
Ten older horses lined up for the Wise Dan, one of six stakes on the program that was originally scheduled to be staged at Churchill Downs but moved to Ellis Park over safety concerns at the Louisville oval.
“It was a big day for sure,” Foley said. “Those are two nice horses.”
Stitched, who broke his maiden carrying a $30,000 claiming tag in January 2022, won a pair of non-graded stakes later in the year before finishing off the board in his graded stakes debut Sept. 10 in the G2 Franklin-Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs.
Stitched finished seventh behind crack sprinter Caravel in his 2023 debut in the G2 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland, then was fifth in the Opening Verse Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 4, beaten three lengths. He then threw in a clunker, getting beaten nearly 15 lengths in an allowance/optional claiming race on June 1 that was meant to be a confidence builder.
“His first two races (in 2023) were good races,” Foley said. “His last race was not. We were disappointed.”
Foley secured the services of Prat earlier in the day.
“The horse went into the race great,” said Foley. “He looked like a million bucks, and we were lucky to get Flavien.”
He added that Stitched “shouldn't have been those kind of odds.”
Prat put Stitched in fourth position early, just a few lengths behind the free-running Get Smokin, who set fractions of :24.44, :48.10, 1:11.76 and 1:34.95 for the first mile. He made a four-wide move into the stretch, had a length to make up at the furlong pole, but was up in time for the win.
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