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A Heater In the Turf Classic

Six months ago, Klaravich Stables' Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}) was the leader of a very strong group of turf sophomores, having won the valuable Saratoga Derby over the summer before a year-ending defeat of Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) in the GI Hollywood Derby.

But while that one was given his winter's rest, Robert and Lawana Low's Colonel Liam (Liam's Map), a progressive sort who finished within three-quarters of a length of Domestic Spending at the Spa last summer, had assumed 'King of the Hill' status, courtesy of a three-race skein that included the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf in January and the GII Muniz Memorial S. Mar. 20. Saturday's renewal of acquaintances in the GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs lived up to expectations, as they hit the wire together and the judges could not split them.

Colonel Liam, a touch keen passing under the wire for the first time, found the perfect spot in the box seat, as Smooth Like Strait enjoyed a cheap time of things on the engine, doling out fractions of :24.40 for the opening couple of furlongs and an easy :49.17 beneath Umberto Rispoli. The second that pace-pressing Cross Border (English Channel) came under a Ricardo Santana, Jr. ride leaving the three-eighths pole, Colonel Liam was asked for a bit of acceleration from Irad Ortiz, Jr. and was pulled out into the two path to deliver his challenge. Colonel Liam was roused to the front a furlong from home, but Domestic Spending, given a quiet time of it towards the back of the field for the opening six furlongs, followed his stablemate and defending champion Digital Age (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) into the lane, shot the gap between the latter and a weakening Cross Border, was steered out and around Colonel Liam as Smooth Like Strait hung to his right and hit the line on even terms.

Pedigree Notes:

Colonel Liam is the one of six graded winners and three Grade I winners for Liam's Map and is bred on the same cross as 'TDN Rising Star' Wicked Whisper. Colonel Liam is one of two winners from four to race for his dam, an unraced daughter of the Phillipses MGISW turf distaffer Wonder Again, whose full-brother Grass Wonder was the champion 2-year-old of his generation in Japan and later won the Takarazuka Kinen over 2200 meters (11 furlongs) and the 2500-meter (12.5-furlong) Arima Kinen on two occasions before embarking on a stud career. This is also the same female family responsible for GSW Hopeful Growth (Tapiture). Amazement is the dam of Colonel Liam's 3-year-old half-sister Lovely Dee (Shackleford), a juvenile colt by Tapiture and a yearling colt by the late Arrogate, like Liam's Map a son of Unbridled's Song. She most recently visited Copper Bullet (More Than Ready).

Domestic Spending is the lone produce for his stakes-winning dam (died 2017), a daughter of G3 Nell Gywn S. winner and MG1SP Cloud Castle (GB) (In the Wings {GB}), whose GSW Queen's Best (GB) (King's Best) produced GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Queen's Trust (GB) (Dansili {GB}). Domestic Spending's third dam includes a plethora of high-class gallopers, including MG1SWs Warrsan (Ire) (Caerleon) and Luso (GB) (Salse) and MGSW & MG1SP Needle Gun (Ire) (Sure Blade).

Saturday, Churchill Downs
OLD FORESTER BOURBON TURF CLASSIC S.-GI, $1,000,000, Churchill Downs, 5-1, 4yo/up, 1 1/8mT, 1:47.99, fm.
(DH)-1–COLONEL LIAM, 124, c, 4, by Liam's Map
                1st Dam: Amazement, by Bernardini
                2nd Dam: Wonder Again, by Silver Hawk
                3rd Dam: Ameriflora, by Danzig
($50,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP; $1,200,000 2yo '19 OBSAPR).
O-Lawana L. & Robert E. Low; B-Phillips Racing Partnership
(KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $393,600. Lifetime
Record: 8-6-0-1, $1,264,565. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple
Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
(DH)-1–DOMESTIC SPENDING (GB), 124, g, 4, by Kingman (GB)
                1st Dam: Urban Castle (SW-Eng), by Street Cry (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Cloud Castle (GB), by In the Wings (GB)
                3rd Dam: Lucayan Princess (Ire), by High Line (GB)
(300,000gns Ylg '18 TATOCT). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.;
B-Rabbah Bloodstock Limited (GB); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Flavien
Prat. $393,600. Lifetime Record: 6-5-0-1, $914,500. Werk Nick
Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
3–Smooth Like Strait, 120, c, 4, Midnight Lute–Smooth as
Usual, by Flower Alley. O-Cannon Thoroughbreds, LLC;
B-Cannon Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy.
$96,000.
Margins: NK, NK, 1HF. Odds: 1.40, 5.90, 7.10.
Also Ran: Count Again, Digital Age (Ire), Ivar (Brz), Cross Border, Masteroffoxhounds, Ride a Comet.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. Click for Colonel Liam's free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Click for Domestic Spending's free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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It’s Du Jour’s Day In the American Turf

Du Jour worked out a perfect trip under Flavien Prat to provide Bob Baffert with a rare graded stakes winner on the turf. A debut second on the Del Mar lawn last November behind next-out stakes winner Cathkin Peak (Ire) (Alhebayeb {Ire}), the bay was third when switched to the Santa Anita main track Jan. 3 behind subsequent GIII Robert B. Lewis S. runner-up Roman Centurian (Empire Maker). He broke through back on the lawn in Arcadia Feb. 19, and doubled up after setting pace in a Mar. 28 optional claimer.

Guided to the hedge to sit fifth as Excellent Timing (Not This Time) sped clear, Du Jour advanced along the inside after six furlongs in 1:12.60. He briefly had to wait for a seam behind Winfromwithin, but the seas parted in midstretch and Du Jour lengthened his stride from there to kick home a decisive winner.

“The key was getting him to relax down inside,” said Prat, who also piloted Blowout (GB) (Dansili {GB}) to a win in the GII Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile earlier in the card. “I actually sent him quite a bit out of the gate and then it's always a question of if they can come back to you after that. It felt like they were going a good clip up front and that helped him to relax too. He traveled well and when I asked him to split horses, he did it nicely.”

Du Jour is co-owned by Baffert's wife Jill and Debbie Lanni, whose family's Lanni Family Trust has raced the likes of $6.5-million MGISW Game On Dude (Awesome Again) and MGSW/MGISP Reneesgotzip (City Zip).

“These turf horses are easier to train. You don't have to train them very hard,” said Baffert, whose last graded winner on the grass came with Kingly (Tapit) in the 2019 GIII La Jolla H. “We tried to make a dirt horse out of him and he wasn't that good. Mike Smith rode him and said I think he likes the turf. I'm really excited about it. And I'm just so happy for Jill. She has to deal with me as a trainer, and all the ups and downs. For that horse to win today, and to listen to her excitement, now she has something that's hers.”

Saturday, Churchill Downs
AMERICAN TURF S. PRESENTED BY DERBY CITY GAMING-GII, $500,000, Churchill Downs, 5-1, 3yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:42.49, fm.
1–DU JOUR, 118, c, 3, by Temple City
1st Dam: Guiltless, by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Getaway Girl, by Silver Deputy
3rd Dam: Baby Zip, by Relaunch
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($19,000 Ylg
'19 KEESEP; $280,000 2yo '20 OBSAPR). O-Natalie J. Baffert &
Debbie Lanni; B-Woods Edge Farm, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert;
J-Flavien Prat. $282,100. Lifetime Record: 5-3-1-1, $375,220.
Werk Nick Rating: C+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Lucky Law (Ire), 118, c, 3, No Nay Never–Musically (GB), by
Singspiel (Ire). (110,000gns Wlg '18 TATFOA; £110,000 2yo '20
GOFARQ). O-Sanford Bacon, Mrs. Paul Shanahan, Horse France
America, Patrick L. Biancone Racing LLC & DP Racing; B-The
Musically Syndicate (IRE); T-Patrick L. Biancone. $91,000.
3–Winfromwithin, 118, c, 3, Into Mischief–Rau Breck, by Mr.
Greeley. ($100,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Jim Bakke; B-Mulholland
Springs LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $45,500.
Margins: 1HF, 1 1/4, HF. Odds: 5.60, 15.90, 5.00.
Also Ran: Hidden Enemy (Ire), Palazzi, Royal Prince, Chess's Dream, Annex, Scarlett Sky, Holy Vow, Next, Dyn O Mite, Barrister Tom, Excellent Timing. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:
Du Jour becomes the 19th stakes winner (ninth graded) for sire Temple City. He is the 29th graded winner out of a Bernardini mare. The red-hot broodmare sire has been represented just this year by the likes of graded winners Colonel Liam (Liam's Map), Maxfield (Street Sense), Paris Lights (Curlin), Clairiere (Curlin), Cezanne (Curlin), Moonlight d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) and Twenty Carat (Into Mischief).

Just a $19,000 KEESEP yearling, Du Jour breezed in :10 1/5 at the pushed-back OBS Spring sale last year as a member of the Off the Hook LLC consignment before bringing $280,000. Off the Hook sold a :9 4/5 co-bullet breezer by Temple City for $110,000 at this year's recent OBSAPR renewal.

Du Jour is the second foal out of unplaced Guiltless, who is a half to GSW Northern Causeway (Giant's Causeway). His third dam produced Ghostzapper and City Zip. Guiltless's 2-year-old filly Royal County (Klimt) was fifth and fourth in her first two tries at Keeneland for juvenile specialist John Ennis. She has a yearling filly by Twirling Candy and was bred back to Not This Time.

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Jackie’s Warrior Outlasts Dream Shake In Pat Day Mile

The return to one-turn races wasn't a cake walk for Jackie's Warrior in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on Saturday at Churchill Downs, but the colt showed plenty of tenacity to survive a sustained challenge from a game Dream Shake down the stretch and pick up his first win of the year.

The 3-year-old son of Maclean's Music was put on the lead early by regular rider Joel Rosario, challenged on his immediate outside by Dream Shake, and further out by a group including Dreamer's Disease and Noble Reflection. That lead quartet bobbed for the lead as the field left the chute and entered the main course, with Jackie's Warrior soon giving himself a bit of space from the rest of the front pack.

No stranger to setting hot fractions, Jackie's Warrior blazed through an opening quarter in :21.75 seconds, with the remaining three lead contenders remaining within striking distance.

The pace remained fast through the half-mile point, with Jackie's Warrior passing the post in :43.68 seconds; the fastest opening half he's set in seven career starts. Dream Shake and Dreamer's Disease remained in hot pursuit on the outside, while Joe Fraizer advanced up the rail to pose a threat directly behind the leader.

Rosario kept his mount under a hand ride through the turn, and swung Jackie's Warrior further off the rail as he entered the home stretch. The only challengers that remained after such electric opening fractions were Dream Shake and Defunded, who was moving up on the far outside.

Dream Shake, under Flavien Prat fully engaged Jackie's Warrior at the quarter pole, completing three-quarters in 1:07.97. Though Dream Shake was unrelenting in his challenge all the way to the wire, he could never get his nose in front. Jackie's Warrior kept the challenger at bay under an aggressive – but not desperate – ride by Rosario, to prevail by a head.

Four and a half lengths behind the runner-up, Whiskey Double advanced from the back of the field to win a three-way photo over Defunded and Sittin On Go.

Jackie's Warrior stopped the clock in 1:34.39 in the one-mile race, paying $6.60 to win as the 2-1 favorite.

With the victory, Jackie's Warrior improved his career record to five wins in seven career starts for earnings of $868,964.

After starting his career with four straight wins, all at a mile or shorter including two in Grade 1 competition, Jackie's Warrior had been on a two-race losing streak, finishing fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and third in the G3 Southwest Stakes. The Pat Day Mile marked a successful return to his element.

Steve Asmussen trains Jackie's Warrior for owners J. Kirk and Judy Robison. He was bred in Kentucky by J & J Stables, out of the A. P. Five Hundred mare Unicorn Girl.

To view the full Equibase chart, click here.

PAT DAY MILE QUOTES

Joel Rosario (Jockey, Jackie's Warrior, winner) – “I was pretty confident that he was going to hang in down the stretch. He likes when a horse comes up to him and he really digs in. I was not worried about the fast early pace because he fights very hard down the stretch.”

Steve Asmussen (Trainer, Jackie's Warrior, winner) – “I'm proud of who Jackie's Warrior is, under these circumstances, only validates of the beliefs we had in him. It's quite obvious that he's a special horse and there are plenty of opportunities for him out there that will serve his assets best.”

Flavien Prat (Jockey, Dream Shake, runner-up) – “He showed speed out of the gate and I got terrific position. He was running well all the way around and I moved right up outside the winner. I thought I was going to catch him through the length of the stretch. I really thought I was going to get there. My horse ran too good to get beat.”

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Blowout Scores Front-Running Victory In Churchill Distaff Turf Mile

In each of her last seven starts, Chad Brown-trained Blowout was in front in the early stages of her races, so it was not surprising to see jockey Flavien Prat put Peter Brant's 5-year-old Dansili mare in front when the field raced past the Churchill Downs grandstand for the first time in Saturday's Grade 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile in Louisville, Ky.

When the field reached the far turn, with about three-eights of a mile to run, Blowout had opened a commanding lead of about eight lengths. It wasn't insurmountable, however, as the field began to close in on Blowout at the top of the stretch. New York Girl and Abscond looked as though they might run past the front-runner, and then New York Girl came flying late.

But Prat had just enough horsepower left to get to the finish in front with Blowout, crossing the wire with a half-length to spare in 1:36.30 for the one mile on firm turf. The fractions were :24.28, :48.39, 1:12.99 and 1:24.71. Irish-bred New York Girl, trained by Bill Mott and ridden by John Velazquez, finished second, a head in front of Brendan Walsh-trained Zofelle, ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., The latter nosed out Abscond, who finished fourth, with Got Storm fifth and She's Got You sixth. Jakarta was scratched.

Sent off as the 9-5 favorite, Blowout paid $5.80 for the win.

“She was running so easy up front and I thought the times were not that fast, so I was very happy,” said Prat. “Then when we came to the eighth pole, they all came after me and it looked like they might go by. But when she saw them, she regrouped and fired up again and we won it.”

Bred in England by the Wildenstein family's Dayton Investments Ltd., Blowout was produced from Deep Impact mare Beauty Parlour, winner of the 2012 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1,000 Guineas). She was purchased by Brant as a foal in Ireland at the Goffs November Sale in 2016.

“She has a tendency to wait on horses and we preferred to have a target but when the 1 scratched she found herself on the lead,” said Brown. “I thought Flavien did an excellent job settling her down, as you can see, she can be a little difficult to handle. I thought once they turned for home they were going to close in again and she was going to wait for horses but he said when she had the horses behind her, she kicked in again, thankfully. It's very rare for me (to have a horse build a big lead), as you know a lot of my horses come from off the pace but we learned with this horse to let her do her thing and that's where she wants to be. Mr. Brant was really determined to get a Grade 1 with her, it's a wonderful family; he owns the mother. She was so close in the Matriarch and she did what Blowout does when she makes the lead, she waits on horses. A lot of her defeats are not due to fatigue it's that she likes to wait on horses. She can be difficult; she wants to be forward, and she pulls, but she's actually better with a target. And it's hard to find two-turn races for her with a target because she's so fast. She had it momentarily in the Matriarch but when she surged to the lead, she lost it and waited. I thought that might happen today turning for home; as easy as the fractions were for her, :48, you'd think she'd be gone, and sure enough they closed in on her because she will wait for horses. I thought they'd (the others) be a little closer than that. I was surprised with how far in front she was at one point. But guided by the fractions, looking at it, from a stamina point there was no issue. At that point it was mental. She'll be heading to the Just a Game at Belmont next.”

Winner of three races, with seven seconds and one third from 11 starts, including the Wild Applause Stakes and Pebbles Stakes at Belmont Park in 2019, the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile was her first graded stakes score.

Prat first rode Blowout in her most recent start, the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar last Nov. 29, where she lost by a nose to Brown stablemate Viadera.

Owner Peter Brant (right) with Blowout and jockey Flavien Prat

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