SJB Stable's Thirty Thou Kelvin was headed in the stretch but dug deep to come back and win the $250,000 Woodford Reserve Virginia Oaks by a neck Saturday at Colonial Downs.
Covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.04 across a firm turf course, Thirty Thou Kelvin led every step except a few strides in the stretch when Alpha Bella poked a nose in front to her outside at the furlong marker.
Under two-time Colonial riding champion Trevor McCarthy, Thirty Thou Kelvin broke with alacrity and took command with seven sophomores behind her, most immediately being Alpha Bella who bided her time as the two fillies held their positions through both turns.
As the field began breathing down their necks, Alpha Bella got the first jump and seemed to put the leader away, but Thirty Thou Kelvin resiliently found more along the rail to come back to triumph, holding off Root Cause by a neck. It was another neck back to Alpha Bella.
With back-to-back stakes victories, the Bolt d'Oro filly, trained by John Terranova II, adds $150,000 to boost her bankroll to $387,640 while improving her record to 4-0-2 from 11 starts.
“I was really shocked to be on the lead,” McCarthy said. “When the five (Broadway Girls) acted up to my inside in the gate, I thought I'd make sure to get a good break. This filly jumped right out of there, and John and Tanya (Terranova) said just be confident with her and don't take away anything that comes easy. After she broke in front, she turned off in the first turn and had her ears pricked down the backside. I tried to get away from them at the five-sixteenths pole, but it wasn't until she had company that she said, 'It's game time, let's fight.' I'm super happy for the connections. I love it here at Colonial Downs. It's the best turf course in the country.”
Sent off at odds of more than 11-1, Thirty Thou Kelvin returned $25.80.
Bred in Kentucky by Horseshoe Racing LLC, Thirty Thou Kelvin is out of the Midshipman mare Wealthy Shipman. She sold to Stephen J. Barberino Accumulation Trust at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, where Brookdale Sales consigned her.
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