The fifth place finisher in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, Bernard Racing, Tagg Team Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Terry Stephens' O Besos made his much-anticipated return count on Sunday. The 4-year-old by Orb won the Fair Grounds' seventh race, a $47,000 allowance option claiming contest, by a hard-fought nose over Intrepid Heart.
“He had to run a little harder than we were hoping for,” trainer Greg Foley said. “He got banged around a little out of the gate. I don't know how much he loved it on the inside there.”
Now 8-3-1-1 with earnings of $320,224, all three of O Besos' wins have come at Fair Grounds with Brian Hernandez Jr. riding.
“We got that under his belt,” Foley said. “He looked great this morning, licked his tub, he didn't act like it took anything out of him. The horse looks amazing. He's put on 150 pounds of muscle in the right places. I couldn't be any happier with the way he looks.”
After the Kentucky Derby, O Besos ran second in the Matt Winn (G3) at Churchill Downs on May 29, 2021. Winning at 1 1/16 miles off the bench on Sunday, his connections are now considering their options for his next start.
“I just got to figure out what this horse really wants to do,” Foley said. “I'm not so sure he is a true long-distance horse. He might be a monster going seven-eighths or a one-turn mile.”
Speaking of past Kentucky Derby horses, Foley and his team are also weighing their options for Lloyd Madison Farms, IV's Major Fed, who was last seen finishing fifth in the locally run Tenacious Stakes the day after Christmas.
“Might be the same speech,” Foley said. “He could be great at one-turn. Other than that, all his brothers and sisters were really good turf horses, too, so we might stick him on the grass next time.”
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