Amy Dunne, Brenda Miley, Westrock Stables and Jean Wilkinson's Leinster collared 2018 Shakertown winner Bound for Nowhere at midstretch and held off stablemate Totally Boss by a head to win the Grade 2 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.
Ridden by Tyler Gaffalione for trainer Rusty Arnold, Leinster covered the 5½ furlongs on a firm turf course in a course-record 1:00.86.
Bound for Nowhere, under regular rider Julio Garcia, led the field through fractions of :21.16 and :43.55 with Tiger Blood in closest pursuit and Leinster stalking in fourth.
Bound for Nowhere opened a daylight advantage in the upper stretch and grudgingly gave way to Leinster, who in turn held off Totally Boss.
The victory was worth $90,000 and improved Leinster's bankroll to $524,211 with a record of 21-4-6-4. Leinster is a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Majestic Warrior out of the Royal Academy mare Vassar.
Leinster paid $22.40, $8.60 and $5.40. Totally Boss, with Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard, returned $7.40 and $5.20 with Bound for Nowhere finishing another neck back in third and paying $3.80 to show.
Fast Boat finished another half-length back in fourth and was followed in order by Extravagant Kid, Tell Your Daddy, Corruze, Tiger Blood, Just Might, Texas Wedge, Real News, Shared Legacy and Wildman Jack.
Shakertown Quotes
Tyler Gaffalione: “(Leinster) broke well. He put himself right in the race. I was able to drop in behind the speed. I had the perfect trip, really. All credit goes to (trainer) Rusty (Arnold) and his team. He told me when I got to the Paddock that (Leinster) was ready today. And he definitely showed it.”
Did you think you won the photo? “I was very confident. I had the momentum going forward.”
Rusty Arnold, trainer of 1-2 finishers Leinster and Totally Boss:
What was it like waiting out that photo finish? “It was probably the first time in my life I was begging for a dead heat. I've watched it three times and I couldn't tell (who won). It was going to work good for me either way, but it would have worked really good for me if it was a dead heat.”
Did you think both horses would have performances like that? “I did. They both came back from their one race at Churchill (a May 29 allowance, their first start of 2020), which they didn't win. But they were hung up in the virus this winter in Florida and we didn't get them going as early as we wanted. They have really done well here, both horses.”
How do you get them to peak again here for Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1)? “Not sure yet, but I'm going to work on that. I think the race today is probably good enough to get them both in. But we'll work our way backwards from that. That's where we want them both.”
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