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BC Stables LLC's Just Steel sat just off a fast contested early pace, swung five-wide at the top of the lane, and powered home down the stretch to score  in Saturday's third running of the $222,505 Ed Brown for 2-year-olds at Churchill Downs

Sent off at 12-1 odds, Just Steel won by 2½ lengths over Agoo. Booth, the odds-on 3-5 favorite after a dominant maiden win at Keeneland in October, prompted the early pace but regressed and faded to fifth.

Trained by 88-year-old Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas and ridden by Joel Rosario, Just Steel covered the 6½ furlongs on a fast track in 1:16.91.

“I think this horse is just coming along and getting better,” Lukas said. “I thought Joel (Rosario) gave him a perfect ride. What I was most encouraged about was how he lengthened his stride down the lane. … I think eventually we will go back to two turns. He's by Justify and should be in his wheelhouse. I think he could be a Kentucky Derby-type horse.”.”

A 2-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Justify out of the Fastnet Rock (AUS) mare Irish Lights (AUS), Just Steel improved his record to 2-1-1 from seven starts. He added the $135,245 winner's share to his bankroll and increased his earnings to $240,795.

Just Steel returned $27.08 as the 12-1 seventh betting choice in the field of eight juvenile sprinters. Agoo finished a length in front of third-place finisher Normandy Hero.

Molly's Town, Booth, Gabarra, Bowstreet and Divieto completed the order of finish. Bye Bye Liam was scratched.

The winner was bred by Summerhill Farm. He was a $500,000 purchase at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he was offered by Eaton Sales.

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Trainer Phil D'Amato hit the trifecta at Del Mar Saturday in the $200,000 Seabiscuit Handicap (G2). His runners finished first, second, and third in the 1 1/6-mile grass headliner, with Madaket Stable's Easter leading the parade and proving best by a half-length.

The 5-year-old French-bred by the Australian stallion Exosphere had to wait and wait in the lane for room to run, but once he got clear and jockey Antonio Fresu hit the gas, Easter surged to the front in the last 100 yards and earned the first-place prize of $120,000.

Finishing second was the 11-10 favorite and last year's Seabiscuit winner, Hong Kong Harry, who had a half length on Balnikhov.

“Obviously, I got Hong Kong Harry in the race right next to me and so I sat behind him,” Fresu said. “…My horse was pretty keen in the first part of the race, and so I was trying to relax him as much as I could along the way. I just tried to get him in a nice rhythm. When we came for home, I could see Hong Kong Harry was loaded in front of me…and the last 200 yards there was an opening and I took it. My horse just exploded. He seems like a very nice horse, and hopefully he has a very bright future.”

Easter was winning his first graded stakes and increased his bankroll to $447,910 for registering his sixth score in his 18th start. He finished the distance in a rapid 1:39.96, just :46 hundredths off the track record of 1:39.50 set by Fly to Mars in the 2018 California Dream' Stakes.

“I saw Easter was kind of stuck behind there and thought maybe he was going to get second,” D'Amato said. “Antonio said he was able to find daylight and then he exploded. He said within a couple of strides he made up all the ground like nothing. It's nice to see all three of my horses run well and the best horse won today. Maybe it's 'Harry' next time and maybe it's Balnikhov after that.”

As the second choice in the field of eight, Easter returned $5.40 to his backers. He had come into the D'Amato barn less than a month ago after running a series of races mostly in the East out of the barn of conditioner Graham Motion.

Easter was bred by Aleyrion Bloodstock and is out of the Exceed And Excel mare Excellent Girl.

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Intricate patiently waited for running room at the top of the Churchill Downs stretch and when she did at the three-sixteenths pole, she exploded home to comfortably win Saturday's 80th running of the $399,498 Golden Rod (G2) for 2-year-old fillies by 5¼ lengths over odds-on 4-5 favorite Thorpedo Anna.

Intricate, who ran 1 1/16 miles over a fast track in 1:45.01, collected the $240,455 first prize and 10 points as part of the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” series, which offers points on a scale of 10-5-3-2-1 to the top five finishers as a “Prep Season” race.

Tyler Gaffalione rode the winner for trainer Brendan Walsh and owners Bradley Thoroughbreds, Laura Leigh Stable, Scott Estes, and Cambron Equine LLC.

West Sunset, the winner of last month's Rags to Riches (Listed), dictated the early pace of :23.30, :47.31 and 1:12.48 as Intricate relaxed along the rail about 3½ lengths back in third down the backstretch. West Sunset, longshot Dozen Diamonds and Thorpedo Anna left the final turn vying for the lead, but it was a pinned Intricate who found room between the tiring leader and 68-1 outsider. Once clear, Intricate opened up and drew clear of the field for easy victory.

“She ran great today,” Gaffalione said. “She's figuring things out and getting better with each start. I think the longer distance will definitely help her.”

Intricate paid $14.66 for the victory.

Thorpedo Anna outfinished Central Avenue by a neck for second in the field of eight.

Prior to the Golden Rod, Intricate broke her maiden in her second start while stretching out from a fifth in a debut sprint to a 3½-length score at Keeneland around 1 1/16 miles on Oct. 13. She boasts a record of two wins in three starts and earnings of $302,180.

“She's a very easy filly to train and does it all by herself,” said Walsh, who used a third-place finish in last year's Golden Rod to win this year's Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) with Pretty Mischievous. “She's just been starting to come around and really put things together today. We've always thought she's a true two-turn filly. Last year this race worked out well for the development of Pretty Mischievous. We'll see where we end up down the road with her, but I'm sure we'll entertain the Fair Grounds races like we did last year.”

Dozen Diamonds finished fourth and was followed by Gin Gin, Purloin, Here's the Spider, and West Sunset.

By Gun Runner, Intricate is out of the Distorted Humor mare Complex Analysis. The chestnut filly was bred in Kentucky by LBD Stable LLC and was a $280,000 purchase by Bradley Thoroughbreds, agent, at the OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training. She was offered by De Meric Sales..

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