Dreams do come true, but sometimes you have to wait.
Trainer Phil Bauer, a former assistant to Kenny McPeek, took out his trainer's license in 2013, but until Rigney Racing's Into Mischief mare Played Hard crossed the finish line a neck in front of favored Secret Oath in the $750,000 La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks Day on Friday, he had yet to win a Grade 1 race.
Before he could celebrate, however, Bauer had to wait out a rider's objection filed by Tyler Gaffalione aboard Secret Oath against Played Hard and John Velazquez, who allowed his mount to drift out in the stretch as Secret Oath closed in on them in the final sixteenth of a mile.
Stewards allowed the original result to stand.
“Speechless,” Bauer said. “Horse racing can be like climbing Mount Everest. Today, I feel like we've made it to the top. As a Louisville guy, this means everything to me. It's a dream come true; I literally dream about stuff like this.”
A three-time winner at Churchill Downs from eight starts, including a pair of G3 stakes last year, Played Hard was making her first start since last Nov. 24. She broke from the rail, then shifted to the outside while chasing front-running Society for most of the La Troienne's 1 1/16 miles. The 5-year-old bay moved to the front entering the stretch, then braced for the anticipated challenge from Secret Oath, whose two Churchill Downs wins included last year's G1 Kentucky Oaks.
Played Hard dug in and fought gamely to the wire, covering 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:42.48, two-fifths of a second slower than the stakes record of 1:42.09 set by Authenticity in 2013. The track record for the distance is 1:41.04, recorded by Successful Dan in 2012.
Secret Oath held second with her wide rally down the stretch, a second narrow defeat in G1 races for the D. Wayne Lukas-trained filly by Arrogate following a runner-up finish behind Clairiere in the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn just three weeks earlier. Search Results – making her first start since a disappointing run in last year's G1 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland – came up the inside to be third, a half-length behind Secret Oath. A Mo Reay was fourth, followed by Desert Dawn, Pauline's Pearl, Soul of an Angel, Sixtythreecaliber, Society, and Classy Edition.
Played Hard, winning for the sixth time in 15 career starts, paid $19.86 as the 8-1 fifth choice in the field of 10 older fillies and mares.
“She's very brave,” Velazquez. “All the credit goes to Mr. Phil Bauer and his team. She's been working really good, and I didn't know if she had enough to beat Secret Oath today. But she put in a couple of good works here. I knew she was going to run well. The whole team did such a great job, to get her ready after a long layoff, and to run with this horse. I've got to give it to Phil, great job.”
Lukas was proud of Secret Oath's effort.
“She ran her heart out,” Lukas said. “I think that little brush broke her momentum just enough that her stride changed a little bit. I can see why they left it up but I can see why they'd take it down. It was a tough call by the stewards.”
“Honestly, it felt a lot worse than it looked,” Gaffalione said of the two fillies brushing in deep stretch. “My filly must have been getting tired at that point, and we came together. I had pretty good position going into the first turn, then we ran into traffic, and a lot of shuffling, so I didn't want to get myself in a bad spot, so I got her out of there. She's got such a tremendous kick, that I wanted to rely on that.”
Bauer was especially happy for Louisville natives Richard and Tammy Rigney, whose Rigney Racing topped the owner standings at the 2022 spring meet at Churchill Downs and had a strong meet last summer at Saratoga.
“A lot of it is opportunity in this game, and Richard and Tammy have given me tremendous opportunity,” he said. “Richard and Tammy deserve this, times 10.”
Rigney Racing was formed at the same time Bauer went out on his own. A native of Pasadena, Calif., who enjoyed going to Southern California tracks, Richard Rigney – owner of Clarendon Flavors, a Louisville company that makes flavors for distilled spirits and beverages – moved to Kentucky in 1987. His wife knew how much he enjoyed racing and got him involved with Livin The Dream Racing partnerships, buying him some shares for his birthday. McPeek trained the partnership's horses and it was through that connection that he met Bauer.
The Rigneys purchased Played Hard for $280,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from consignor Four Star Sales. Bred by Susan Casner, Played Hard was produced from the Tiznow mare, Well Lived, a full sister to Bill and Susan Casner's G1 Dubai World Cup winner Well Armed.
The La Troienne is named for the famed broodmare, a daughter of Teddy who was born in France in 1926, went winless in seven starts, then was imported to Kentucky by Col. E.R. Bradley, where she became an important producer for his Idle Hour Stock Farm. La Troienne's 14 foals included future Hall of Fame runners Black Helen and Bimelich, and some of the best families in the stud book trace back to her. After Bradley's death in 1946, she was purchased by a partnership of Greentree Stables, King Ranch and Ogden Phipps. La Troienne died at age 28 in 1954 and is buried on the Greentree parcel that is now part of Gainesway in Lexington.
Churchill Downs inaugurated the La Troienne Stakes in 1967, then renamed the race after the ill-fated filly Eight Belles in 2009. In 2010, the original Louisville Breeders' Cup Handicap was renamed the La Troienne. It became a Grade 1 race in 2014.
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