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Sconsin Outlasts Bell’s The One To Win Open Mind At Churchill Downs

Lloyd Madison Farms IV's homebred Sconsin got the first run on Bell's the One down the stretch in Saturday night's 12th running of the $300,000 Open Mind (Listed) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., as she turned back a late run from the 4-5 favorite to prevail by a half-length in a clash of two of the top filly and mare sprinters in America.

Trained by Greg Foley and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Sconsin ran six furlongs in a stakes record 1:08.75 as the 9-5 second betting choice.

Sconsin, 3 ¼-length winner of the $150,000 Grade 3 Winning Colors at Churchill Downs in May, was rated in fourth, as expected, behind pacesetter Mundaye Call who dictated the terms from the rail through early fractions of :21.64 and :44.77. Ain't No Elmers and Jungle Juice (IRE) tracked just behind the leader. Bell's the One, who improved her impressive record to nine wins from 19 starts and $1.1 million earnings after a victory in the $200,000 Grade 2 Honorable Miss at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., this summer, trailed the compact field of five fillies and mares.

Sconsin made the first move and had a two-length advantage on Bell's the One leaving the turn. Sconsin drew even with the leading trio with a furlong to run and out-finished Bell's the One to the wire.

“A lot of credit has to go to Greg and his team for getting this filly ready to go tonight,” Gaffalione said. “She was very sharp and we got into a good position early. There was some pace in front early. She dug in well late to hold off (Bell's the One). It was a really strong effort tonight.”

Sconsin, who banked the $185,000 first prize, improved her record to five wins, four seconds, and a third in 15 starts. Her career earnings total $783,362.

The career earnings for the 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Include now total $783,362.

“Going into the race we saw there was a little bit of speed on paper,” Foley said. “She got the pace setup tonight unlike the Ballerina at Saratoga. Neil (Pessin)'s filly (Bell's the One) beat us in the spring and we got the better hand tonight. She deserves it. Tyler gave her a great ride. He knew Bell's the One was coming and Sconsin just had her measured tonight. It was our turn.”

Sconsin paid $5.60, $2.40 and $2.10. Bell's the One, ridden by Corey Lanerie, returned $2.40 and $2.10. Mundaye Call finished another four lengths back in third under Florent Geroux and paid $2.40 to show. It was another half-length back to Jungle Juice (IRE) and 6 ¾ lengths back to Ain't No Elmers.

“It was a great race tonight with two solid horses,” said Neil Pessin, trainer of Bell's the One. “Bell's ran a great race and we are proud of her effort.”

Saturday's race saluted the late Eugene Klein's Hall of Fame filly Open Mind, the D. Wayne Lukas-trained winner of the 1988 Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs who returned to the Louisville track the following spring to win the Kentucky Oaks. The New Jersey-bred filly was an Eclipse Award champion at ages two and three. A winner of 12 races and $1,844,372 in 19 starts, the daughter of Deputy Minister was enshrined in Racing's Hall of Fame in 2011.

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Foley Eyeing BC Filly & Mare Sprint For Sconsin After Open Mind Win

Trainer Greg Foley's Barn 11 was buzzing with excitement Sunday morning following Sconsin's hard-fought victory over Bell's the One in Saturday's $300,000 Open Mind (Listed) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Now, Foley and his team are eyeing a trip to Del Mar and the $1 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.

“She's just a classy filly,” Foley said. “Neil (Pessin)'s mare (Bell's the One) is a really solid horse and they really battled last night. You get a little worried when the field is short about what the pace will be. They went quick last night and that helped us. In her two starts this year against Gamine they went almost two seconds slower for the opening quarter-mile.”

Sconsin improved her overall record to 15-5-4-1—$783,362. The 4-year-old Include filly is out of the former Foley-trained mare Sconnie.

“The guys with Lloyd Madison (Farms IV) have a really solid broodmare band going and it's really exciting for this filly to now have three stakes wins. I'm thrilled for those guys.”

The winner's circle was filled with about 30 members of Foley's friends and family. However, one family member was missing and that was his son and assistant trainer Travis, who was out of town on his bachelor party ahead of his Oct. 2 wedding.

“We would've loved to be there but we definitely had a good celebration after she won,” Travis Foley said.

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‘Extra Special For Our Whole Family’: Foley Chasing First Grade 1 Win With Sconsin

Trainer Greg Foley has no doubt that Lloyd Madison Farms' homebred Sconsin, who is named for the owners' home state of Wisconsin, is ready for her close-up. What he's not so sure about is how the 4-year-old filly will appreciate the Saratoga setting.

When Sconsin lines up in the gate for the $500,000, Grade 1 Ketel One Ballerina, which is a “Win and You're In” event for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, against six other top-flight filly and mare sprinters it will be her first race at Saratoga.

“Some horses like it and some don't. That's my main worry of any,” said Foley. “But she's doing great, and she looks really, really good. Whether she handles the track is the main concern. That's what you hear about all the time, whether a horse will handle the racetrack or not. Hopefully, she'll like it.”

Another concern is the presence of Gamine, the reigning champion Female Sprinter, 2020 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner, and four-time Grade 1 winner who's only defeat in nine starts came in last year's Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. The winner of the Grade 1 Longines Test here last year is trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.

“This is definitely a tough race, especially with the champion in there,” Foley said in referring to Gamine.

Gamine is blessed with blistering speed, which she uses to her full advantage. Foley expects nothing less in the Ballerina.

“I see one with a lot of pace, and that's Gamine. Other than her I don't see any pace. She's definitely the speed. I was hoping to see a little more speed entered in here to go with her early. I don't know that there is,” he explained. “We're not going to change our game plan too much. We're going to sit and finish, and if we can't get to her, we can't. We're not going to send her away from there trying to go with Gamine. That would be ridiculous on our part. We're sure not going to get anything that way. Hopefully, somebody else can go with her and help us out. We'll see what happens.”

Sconsin, by Include out of the Tiznow mare Sconnie, performs best when rating off the pace. She employed that running style when second to Gamine in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs in May and when second to the Grade 1 winning Bell's the One in the Roxelana Stakes on that same track in her last out in June. Sconsin, the winner of the Grade 2 Eight Belles last year, also at Churchill Downs, was fourth in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.

“She's a good filly. She's run with the best and run well with them. We beat Bell's the One [winner of the Grade 2 Honorable Miss at the Spa July 28] in a prior race at Churchill and she came back and beat us, and that filly is an awful good filly and she showed you all here that last month,” said Foley. “She's been training great, and really, she could not be doing any better. She looks great and she is ready to go. I'd be surprised if she doesn't run a good race. It will take a good race [against this group] but I think she's sitting on one.”

Sconsin signaled her readiness on August 21 when she fired a bullet four furlongs breeze in :47 flat at Ellis Park in Kentucky. The work was the fleetest of 62 horses going the same distance that morning.

“I've had her at Ellis, just kind of baby-sitting her down there this summer with this race in mind the whole time. I'm trying to win a Grade 1 with her. She's won a Grade 2 and she deserves this chance,” said Foley.

Not only would a Ballerina victory be the first top level score for Sconsin, it would be the first as well for Foley, who has made 8,730 starts for 1,446 wins through August 26, according to Equibase. Moreover, winning a Grade 1 race at a NYRA track would neutralize some sibling rivalry as his sister, Vickie Foley, won the lone Grade 1 race of her long career with Hog Creek Hustle in the 2019 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park.

“Winning a Grade 1 at Saratoga, wouldn't that be something?” said Foley, who is especially close with Vickie and shares barns with her at the Kentucky tracks. “It would definitely be something extra special for our whole family.”

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‘It Doesn’t Get Any Better’: Utley Wins Stakes At Home With Yes It’s Ginger

Mike “Hotdog” Utley, this Bud's for you!

Utley, who runs his family's Edward Utley Jr. Inc. beer (including Budweiser) distributorship in Henderson, got his biggest thrill in horse racing as favored Yes It's Ginger wore down the speedy Elle Z for a 1 1/4-length triumph in the $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Ladies Sprint at Ellis Park. That's where the 59-year-old Utley has been going to the races since he was 12, as well as the hometown track for his eight partners who collectively own 25 percent of the 5-year-old mare with majority owner Brilliant Racing and Tagg Team Racing.

“It's great, in front of everybody,” Utley said. “I don't know how you can describe it… There will be a lot of Bud. I was crossing my fingers, trust me.”

He said the victory ranks No. 1 in his racing career as owner and fan “and it doesn't get any better.”

The Ladies Sprint was part of a turf stakes quartet Sunday that wrapped up the two-day Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Weekend at the RUNHAPPY meet at Ellis Park.

Marcelino Pedroza rode the Greg Foley-trained Yes It's Ginger for the first time, pressing Elle Z through a stiff pace before edging clear late. The Foley-trained Skinny Dip finished another 2 1/4 lengths back in third in the full field of 12 fillies and mares.

“I watched the replays on her and she's quick out of the gate,” said Pedroza, who earlier this meet won the Good Lord Stakes on the Foley-trained Bango. “She was quick out of the gate when she ran (finishing second June 3 at Churchill Downs) against Elle Z. We didn't want to be in the lead. We just wanted to sit there and make sure Elle Z felt the pressure. Turning for home, I asked her to go and she responded like a Quarter Horse. She was running in the end and was very impressive.”

Yes It's Ginger was the only one of the four Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Weekend stakes winners Sunday who didn't set a course record over the very firm turf. But she came close, powering 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:00.71, just off Totally Boss' mark of 1:00.26 set in 2019. Yes It's Ginger, a son of Yes It's True out of Ginger Light, paid $7 to win.

The mare now is 3 for 3 at Ellis Park. Brilliant Racing approached Foley about buying half-interest in Yes It's Ginger when she was a 4-year-old maiden who'd had arthroscopic surgery for a bone chip. Foley liked what he saw and brought in Utley's group, which had been looking for a horse and wanted to be part of the Foley family's Tagg Team Racing.

Yes It's Ginger promptly won a maiden and allowance race last summer at Ellis Park off a 13-month layoff. She came into this race off victory in Lone Star Park's $75,000 Chicken Fried Stakes in her last start. That made her the first stakes-winner for Utley, as well as for Louisville-based Brilliant Racing and Tagg Team, the partnership headed by trainer Greg Foley, wife Sheree and their sons Travis and Alex.

It was no sure thing that Yes It's Ginger would run at Ellis Park. She also was entered for a turf stakes Wednesday at Indiana Grand. While Foley thought the Indiana race's five-furlong distance would be even better, and the competition softer, the forecast for rain this coming week helped make the decision to stay put at Ellis.

“When we decided to run here, there were a lot of happy people, the boys from Henderson,” Foley said. “They're a great group, along with Brilliant, and then our own little group, our family.

“She's just a gutsy little filly. She gives you all every time you run her. From this time last year, when she broke her maiden over here at Ellis, she's just done nothing but gotten better all the time. She ran very impressive in Texas last time and again today. She's just a nice filly.”

Foley also was happy with Skinny Dip, who was making her stakes debut. The goal was to get at least a stakes-placing for the well-bred Into Mischief filly, a mission accomplished.

Yes It's Ginger now is 6-5-0 in 18 starts, earning $295,511. The $40,000 Ocala 2-year-old purchase in 2018 — the first horse bought by Brilliant Racing— was picked out by Brilliant founding members Natalie Gils and Brandon Stauble.

“She's been incredibly special to us — being the first one we bought, giving her all that time not knowing if she was going to come back,” Gils said. “… When it came to the point where we had to sell (part of) her, having the Foleys step in, it's just been a great relationship with them. It was really a blessing in disguise.”

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