Tactius Heads List Of Nominees For Fayette At Keeneland

Juddmonte's homebred Tacitus, fourth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic here last fall in his lone Keeneland appearance, heads a list of 27 horses nominated to the 64th running of the $200,000 Grade 2 Hagyard Fayette going 1 1/8 miles on the main track to be run Oct. 30, closing day of the 17-day Fall Meet at the Lexington, Ky., track.

Trained by Bill Mott, Tacitus has earned more than $3.7 million in his career with five placings in Grade 1 events and three Grade 2 victories. In his most recent start, Tacitus finished fourth behind top 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic contender Knicks Go in the Grade 3 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs.

Other nominees of note with Keeneland success include Steve Landers Racing's Night Ops, who was second in the Grade 3 Ben Ali this spring; Thumbs Up Racing's well-traveled Sleepy Eyes Todd, winner of the Lafayette Presented by Keeneland Select here last fall; and Fern Circle Stables and Three Chimneys Farm's King Fury, winner of the Grade 3 Stonestreet Lexington this spring and recent 13-length winner of the Bourbon Trail at Churchill Downs.

Closing day of the Keeneland meet will feature two other stakes: the 17th running of the $150,000 Bryan Station for 3-year-olds going a mile on the turf and the new $150,000 Bowman Mill for 2-year-olds going 6 furlongs on the main track.

Homewrecker Racing's Point Me By, winner of the Grade 1 Bruce D. Stakes at Arlington Park on Aug. 14, tops a list of 38 nominees to the Bryan Station. Eddie Kenneally trains Point Me By.

Other nominees of note are Madaket Stables and Ecurie Ades-Hazen's Grade 3 Virginia Derby winner Wootton Asset (FR), trained by Graham Motion, and trainer Rusty Arnold's duo of Calumet Farm's Cellist, third in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby, and Ashbrook Farm's Ginsburned, who was third in the Bruce D.

Robert and Lawana Low's My Prankster, fourth in the Grade 1 Champagne in his most recent start for trainer Todd Pletcher, tops the list of 20 nominations for the Bowman Mill.

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Accredit Scores Upset With Gate-To-Wire Win In Dueling Grounds Derby

It was a day to be on the lead at Kentucky Downs, as another front runner came home the winner at the Franklin, Ky., track. Adventuring had won in near gate to wire fashion the race before, with Accredit doing much the same in the 1 5/16-mile Dueling Grounds Derby.

Breaking from post one, jockey Martin Garcia hustled Accredit to the lead, the field of ten other 3-year-old colts and geldings strung out behind him through the early part of the race. Behind him, Modern Science took up second with Yes This Time and Hillard rounding out the top four. Accredit controlled the pace throughout, setting fractions of :24.17, :49.03, and 1:14.31 over the first six furlongs. By the time the field reached the final bend, Accredit was three lengths in front.

Into the long Kentucky Downs stretch, the easy early pace allowed Accredit to hang on to front runner status, as Modern Science and Cellist made a run at him early in the straight. The son of Flatter had plenty in reserve, holding off those challengers and then a surging Yes This Time in the final sixteenth to win the Dueling Grounds Derby by a length. Yes This Time, Cellist, and Modern Science rounded out the top four.

The final time for the 1 5/16-miles was 2:10.58. Find this race's chart here.

Accredit paid $75.00, $28.80, and $12.20. Yes This Time paid $5.60 and $4.00. Cellist paid $3.60.

Bred in Kentucky by E. H. Beau Lane III, Accredit is out of the unraced Bernstein mare Berncredit. He is trained by Pavel Matejka, who also co-owns the colt with Bob Grayson, Jr. Accredit was a $60,000 RNA consigned by Beau Lane Bloodstock at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. With his win in the Dueling Grounds Derby, the 3-year-old colt has three wins in seven lifetime starts for career earnings of $572,619.

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Bolshoi Ballet Brings Home Belmont Derby Win For Galileo

On the day that the world said goodbye to his sire Galileo, Bolshoi Ballet was looking to return to the familiar confines of the winner's circle in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. Fresh off a win on Santa Barbara in the Belmont Oaks, Ryan Moore was more than happy to guide Bolshoi Ballet to another Grade 1 victory for the colt's legendary sire.

Breaking from post two, the son of Galileo hung toward the middle of the field of nine, content to sit behind Hard Love on the lead with Sainthood and Safe Combat behind him for the first part of the ten furlongs. Hard Love maintained his lead by a length on the backstretch, with Cellist moving past Sainthood to take over second as they approached the final turn.

On the turn, Cellist took over the lead, with Hard Love just behind him on the hedge as Bolshoi Ballet went wide and then accelerated into the stretch. That turn of foot allowed Bolshoi Ballet to take over the lead within the race's last sixteenth of a mile, with Tokyo Gold surging late to take second and Cellist holding on for third. Du Jour, Sainthood, Palazzi, Hard Love, Safe Conduct, and Hidden Enemy rounded out the field. The final time for the mile and a quarter was 2:04.62.

Find this race's chart here.

Trained by Aidan O'Brien, Bolshoi Ballet follows up his seventh-place finish in the Group 1 Epsom Derby with today's victory in the G1 Belmont Derby, the first leg of the New York Turf Triple, improving his record to four wins in seven lifetime starts for total winnings of $638,434. The 3-year-old colt is by Galileo out of the French mare Alta Anna, by Anabaa. He was bred by Lynch-Bages & Rhinestone Bloodstock and is owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Westerberg.

Ryan Moore saw the slow pace of the Belmont Derby and knew what Bolshoi Ballet needed. “It felt like they were going very slow. This horse, we know he gets the 10 [furlongs] very well. It was a messy race and he won comfortably without being able to show how good he is. We're happy with him. He's the most beautiful horse you'll see. He's a real athlete. He's a class horse.

“With a furlong to run, you could see he was just waiting; having a look and his ears were going. He's still getting used to knowing what he has to do. We think there's more to come. Potentially, I suppose he could be a Breeders' Cup Turf horse.”

T. J. Comerford, assistant to trainer O'Brien, was pleased with the colt's performance on less-than-ideal turf. “The ground was probably a little bit slow for him, because he likes quick ground, but he did well at the finish because he had a good gallop and that helped him. Ideally, he probably wants tougher ground. In fairness to him, his class pulled it out at the end of the day and you have to be happy with it.”

Bolshoi Ballet paid $4.10, $3.20, and $2.80. Tokyo Gold paid $10.60 and $6.20. Cellist paid $7.20 to show.

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Rusty Arnold Plans Full Slate Of Stakes, Return to Saratoga For Barn

Reiko and Michael Baum's Illiogami, trained by Rusty Arnold, will make her stakes debut in Saturday's $250,000 Grade 2 Mother Goose Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile test for sophomore fillies at Belmont Park in Elmont, Ny.

The Tapit grey, a $400,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, is out of the multiple Group 1-winning Falco mare Odeliz.

The sizable filly made her first two starts traveling one mile on the turf in Kentucky, finishing fifth on debut in October at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. and second in November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Illiogami closed out her juvenile campaign with a closing second on November 28 on the Churchill Downs main track.

Illiogami has thrived at 1 1/16-miles on the dirt to start her 3-year-old campaign, notching a maiden score at Keeneland on April 2 and a similar late-moving score at Churchill on April 30.

“She's a vastly improved 3-year-old. We're very excited about her and think she has a big future,” said Arnold. “We started her on turf and she ran well. We decided to give her a try on dirt and she breezed good on it and then ran good on it.”

Arnold said he wanted to give Illiogami some time between starts after winning races 28 days apart.

“We ran her back pretty quick and then started trying to map out where we wanted to go and there wasn't anything here for her,” said Arnold. “I think she'll like Belmont. She's a big filly and I think the turns will help her. We've aimed at this the whole time.”

Her dam, Odeliz, ran second to Just the Judge in the 2014 Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine and the following year captured the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville and the Group 1 Lydia Tesio at Rome.

Given the impressive pedigree, Arnold said he hasn't ruled out a return to turf for Illiogami.

“She may be back to the turf at some point, but right now it's hard to move her off the dirt when she's won two in a row,” said Arnold.

Julien Leparoux will retain the mount on Illiogami for the Mother Goose, which is expected to attract a classy field that includes graded-stakes winner Clairiere and the undefeated Always Carina.

Arnold said Calumet Farm homebred Cellist, a Big Blue Kitten colt, will make his next start in the $1 million Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational. The first leg of the Turf Triple series for sophomores is contested at 10 furlongs on the Belmont turf on July 10.

A winner at second asking traveling 1 1/16-miles on the turf at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. in February, Cellist followed with a close second in a nine-furlong Keeneland turf allowance on April 23.

Last out, Cellist made every call a winning one in the nine-furlong Audubon over good turf on May 29 at Churchill.

“We're really high on him and we're bringing him up for the Belmont Derby,” said Arnold. “He has a lot to learn but I think the distance will help him. The purse is really good, and, hopefully, he'll handle the jump up.”

Arnold said he plans to have his usual string of 16 horses at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, Ny. this summer after missing the meet last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Last year was the first year I hadn't been at Saratoga since '85,” said Arnold. “We love Saratoga and we've been there for a long time. You like it on the years when you have good horses better than when you don't and we're excited to get back.”

Among the good horses to be part of Arnold's Saratoga contingent is A. Dunne, P. Harlow, B. Miley, and J. Wilkinson's Artos, who finished fourth in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes on June 16 at Ascot.

“She ran very well. We wish we'd been third but she had a tough go on her side of the course. She ran very credible,” said Arnold.

The Irish-bred Kodiac filly graduated at second asking in a 5 1/2-furlong Churchill turf sprint by a nose over Overbore, who exited that effort to win the Tremont on the Belmont main track.

Arnold said Artos will target the $120,000 Bolton Landing Stakes, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for juvenile fillies on August 18 at Saratoga.

“We'll play it by how she comes back, but that's two months off and will give her a lot of time to recover,” said Arnold. “She gets back to Kentucky on Friday and we'll ship to Saratoga soon after that.”

G. Watts Humprey's stakes-placed Navratilova will make her next start in the one-mile Tepin Stakes for sophomore fillies on the Churchill turf on June 26 before making her way to Saratoga.

The well-bred Medaglia d'Oro bay is out of the multiple graded stakes-winning Smart Strike mare Centre Court, who won the 2013 Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland.

Arnold said the filly's moniker is a nod to the strong family line, including the second dam, Let, who was second in the 1998 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland and won the 1999 Grade 2 Churchill Downs Distaff for the veteran conditioner.

“We had bought the mare, Let, who placed in a Grade 1 for us and one of her foals was Centre Court, who was a Grade 1 winner, and this [Navratilova] is her foal. The theme comes from the female line,” said Arnold. “Navratilova will run in the Tepin on the last day at Churchill and hopefully move on to the end of the stakes schedule at Saratoga.”

Notable turf route options for sophomore fillies at Saratoga include the $700,000 Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks Invitational, second leg of the Turf Triple series for females, at 1 3/16-miles on August 8 and the $200,000 Grade 2 Lake Placid Stakes at 1 1/16-miles on August 21.

Amy Dunne, Brenda Miley, Westrock Stables, and Jean Wilkinson's multiple graded stakes winner Leinster is enjoying a freshening at Wavertree in Ocala, Florida. The 6-year-old Majestic Warrior bay captured the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint on February 13 in his most recent effort.

“He won well at Gulfstream but came out of it with some issues,” said Arnold. “All the turf races for him are in the fall so we sent him to the farm down at Wavertree and we expect him back for the Saratoga meet. I'm not sure if he'll run there or not, but we'll have him back in training for the fall.”

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