Of the two horses clad in the colors of Bonne Chance Farm and Stud Rio Dois Irmaos LLC, all eyes were on Ivar (BRZ), last year's winner of the Grade 1 Keeneland Turf Mile, but it was In Love (BRZ) who brought home the win in the 2021 edition at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., earning a guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the Breeders' Cup Mile along with his first graded stakes win.
Over a good Keeneland turf course, the 5-year-old gelded son of Agnes Gold with jockey Alex Achard broke cleanly, settling into seventh early in the one-mile stakes. As Brown Storm led the field around the first turn and into the backstretch, Achard and In Love bided their time in the middle of the field of 12, waiting until the far turn to move for a more advantageous position. On the rail, though, In Love was stymied by a wall of horses, Achard going wide in the stretch to find running room. That move was the winning one.
Clear of horses, In Love dug in late, passing Somelikeithotbrown and Tell Your Daddy to take the lead and drawing away to win by three lengths. The final time for the one-mile G1 stakes was 1:34.84.
In Love paid $26.40, $15.40, and $9.60. Tell Your Daddy paid $24.60 and $13.20. Somelikeithotbrown paid $8.20. Find this race's chart here.
The G1 Keeneland Turf Mile is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series. Winners of Challenges Series races receive a fees-paid, guaranteed spot for the corresponding event at the Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.
“I think the big key was we went to Arlington and tried an easier spot, and he won the race, and then we put blinkers on him and he improved a lot, and running the one-turn mile – they are very unfamiliar in South America with that – and I think the horse is improving. You know, Kentucky Downs horses get very fit. And also he loves it here (at Keeneland). Last year he won an allowance very easy here, and I think the giving ground helped him,” trainer Paulo Lobo said after the race.
“(Recording my first Grade 1 win) feels great. Especially at Keeneland—I love Keeneland—and it couldn't be any better,” jockey Alex Achard told the Keeneland Communications Office after the Turf Mile. “He's getting older but he's getting better. He's like a good wine. Every race he shows up and he's even better every time.”
Bred by Fazenda Mondesir and Stud Rio Dois Irmaos, In Love is out of the Know Heights mare Last Bet. With his win in the G1 Keeneland Turf Mile, the 5-year-old gelding has three wins in six starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of five wins in 13 starts and career earnings of $729,700.
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