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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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Feisty Fist Wins D. S. ‘Shine’ Young Futurity At Evangeline Downs

Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La., wrapped up its 2021 Thoroughbred season on Saturday night with an 11-race program that featured the $60,000 D. S. 'Shine' Young Futurity for colts and geldings and recognition of the top horsemen for the meet.

The D. S. 'Shine' Young was won by Whispering Oaks Farm's Fiesty Fist. The 24-1 longshot was ridden to victory by jockey Kevin Smith, who got a leg up from trainer Steven Flint before the 5-1/2-furlong test for 2-year-olds.

Breaking from post nine in a 10-horse field, Fiesty Fist sat off the early pace of :22.08 for the opening quarter-mile and :45.92 for the half set by True Deal. As the field turned for home, True Deal held a narrow lead while riding the rail as Fiesty Fist and Tambourine Star were closing in during the final furlong. At the wire, Fiesty Fist passed the pacesetter by just a half-length to claim victory while Tambourine Star settled for third, another head behind the runner-up.

The final time for Fiesty Fist was 1:05.39 while racing over a track listed as muddy.

The win by Fiesty Fist was the second of his three-race career. He broke his maiden at first asking on May 20 before finishing sixth in the Louisiana Cup Juvenile at Louisiana Downs on August 21. He earned $36,000 for his win on Saturday while raising his overall bankroll to $50,400.

Bred in Louisiana by Carrol J. Castille, Fiesty Fist is a 2-year-old bay gelding by Iron Fist, out of the Roman Ruler mare Sheza Roman Ruler.

Fans who backed Fiesty Fist at the wagering window were rewarded with payoffs of $51 to win, $27.80 to place, and $15.60 to show. True Deal paid $5.40 to place and $3.60 to show. Tambourine Star was worth $3.20 to show.

During the closing night race card, the leading horsemen for the meet were honored in the winner's circle between races. The meet's leading jockey was Diego Saenz with 117 wins. The leading trainer crown went to Eduardo Ramirez, who scored a training triple on the last night of racing and 44 wins overall for the meet. The leading owner title went to Jimmy Johnson's Red Rose Racing, whose runners were victorious 30 times during the 84-day stand.

Evangeline Downs kicks off the 2021 American Quarter Horse season on Wednesday, October 6. The highlight of the season will take place on December 18 when the track hosts the Louisiana Million Futurity for 2-year-olds. First post time each Wednesday through Saturday night during the season will be at 5:35 pm.

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Shedaresthedevil Holds Off Crystal Ball In Locust Grove

Qatar Racing, Flurry Racing Stables and Big Aut Farms' 2020 Longines Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) hero Shedaresthedevil broke fast from the gate, dictated the pace throughout and determinedly held off Crystal Ball by a neck to win Saturday night's 37^th running of the $400,000 Locust Grove (Grade III) for fillies and mares at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Florent Geroux, Shedaresthedevil, the odds-on favorite in the field of six fillies and mares, clicked off comfortable fractions of :24.32, :48.30 and 1:12.17 en route to a final time of 1:42.86 for the 1 1/16 miles.

“She's a very classy filly,” Geroux said. “Tonight we got the lead and she was moving comfortably. This was a good prep race for the Breeders' Cup. She has seven weeks until then and I think she'll get a lot out of this race.”

Shedaresthedevil, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Daredevil out of the Congrats mare Starship Warpspeed, returned $3.20, $2.40 and $2.10. Crystal Ball, ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, returned $3.40 and $2.20 with Envoutante another 1 ½ lengths back in third under Brian Hernandez Jr. and paying $2.10 to show.

Matera, Our Super Freak and High Regard completed the order of finish.

The victory was worth $244,140 to Shedaresthedevil and increased her earnings to $2,291,458 with a record of 9-2-4 from 16 starts. Shedaresthedevil, the 15-1 upset winner of last year's Kentucky Oaks, is perfect in five starts beneath the Twin Spires.

In her previous start, she won last month's $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch (GI) at Del Mar. Now 4-for-5 this year, her 4-year-old campaign includes a one-length score in the $500,000 La Troienne (GI).

“Congratulations to all of the partners who are involved in this filly,” Cox said. “Florent gave her a really good trip. She's a very classy filly and knows how to fight to get things done. She's proven how well she's done here at Churchill and this was a good spot to get her ready for the Breeders' Cup.”

The Locust Grove is named after the 1790 Georgian mansion in Louisville that played home to ancestors of Churchill Downs founder Col. M. Lewis Clark.

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Eldon’s Prince Best In Armed Forces Stakes At Gulfstream Park

After graduating in the Proud Man at a mile on turf last time out, Gentry Farm's Eldon's Prince handled the cutback to seven furlongs and the surface switch to dirt to capture Saturday's $75,000 Armed Forces at Gulfstream Park.

The Armed Forces, a stakes for 2-year-olds originally scheduled to be run at a mile on turf, co-headlined Saturday's 12-race program with the $75,000 Our Dear Peggy, a one-mile turf stakes for 2-year-old fillies that was also run at seven furlongs on turf.

Eldon's Prince, a long-striding son of Cairo Prince who was sent to post as the 7-5 favorite in a field reduced by scratches to eight starters, got away seventh and made steady progress along the backstretch as Golden Juan and Night Jumper vied for the lead while setting fractions of :22.55 and :45.48 for the first half-mile. Eldon's Prince, who launched a three-wide drive leaving the backstretch under Edgard Zayas, built up momentum on the far turn to enter contention while going for wide on the turn into the homestretch. No Nay Franklin who stalked the early pacesetters, got the jump on the favorite to take the lead in the stretch, where he put up a good fight but was unable to hold off the winner.

“We didn't want to change surfaces so quick. We always wanted to try him on dirt later down the lane at a longer distance. We talked it over with A.P. Gentry, the owner of Gentry Farm, and he said, 'Roll the dice and see what happens,'” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “He always trained well on dirt. He's going to want to run longer, a mile, a mile-and-an-eighth, the longer the better. He just has the ability to overcome something that is not his niche.”

Eldon's Prince, who ran seven furlongs in 1:25.02, debuted on turf and finished a late-running second in a 5-furlong dash Aug. 1. Three weeks later, the Ontario-bred colt romped to a six-length victory in the Proud Man.

Patrick Biancone-trained No Nay Franklin, who was making only his second start after losing by a rapidly diminishing neck in a third-place finish at five-furlongs on turf, was six lengths clear of a tiring Golden Juan.

Eldon's Prince was Zayas' only mount on the day after the Spring/Summer Meet's leading rider was unseated from his mount and fell hard to the track.

“Edgard gave him a great ride. He fell heavily [Friday],” Joseph said. “He showed guts to ride this horse today. It shows how tough these jockeys are.”

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