The unbeaten 2-year-old Iowa-bred gelding Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca), who has never been headed while winning five dirt races by a combined 59 3/4 lengths, will have considerable rooting interest on Friday in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.
But he's no longer the only five-for-five juvenile in North America after a win Saturday by the filly Back to Ohio (Midshipman), who cruised to a 7 1/4-length romp against Ohio-bred stakes company at Mahoning Valley.
It's not unusual for 2-year-olds to rack up wins if they compete largely against state-bred stakes company. But Tyler's Tribe is different because he's run legit 90+ Beyer Speed Figures on several occasions while dominating everyone who's lined up against him at Prairie Meadows, meriting his shot at the Breeders' Cup.
Back to Ohio hasn't garnered the same lofty figs just yet. But she signaled promise six months ago when unleashing a co-fastest eighth of a mile in :9 4/5 during her OBSAPR under-tack session, then hammered for $385,000 for Vince Foglia, who now races her under his stable name, Patricia's Hope LLC.
That's quite a cash outlay for a Buckeye-bred. But Back to Ohio has already earned $245,700 of it back for Foglia since debuting June 23.
Bred by Trail M Boarding & Guest Farm, the filly out of Sheza Runaway Star was pinhooked for $70,000 by Top Line Sales from the Mill Ridge Sales consignment at last year's FTKOCT. After Foglia purchased her this spring, trainer Larry Rivelli had her ready for a 4-5 winning unveiling against open company at Presque Isle Downs, leading to 3-5 favoritism in start number two, an Ohio-bred stakes at Belterra Park on July 8.
Back to Ohio uncorked a near-winning effort that day, but crossed the line second, beaten a neck, with the rest of the shell-shocked field at least 12 1/4 lengths in arrears. But the filly who narrowly beat her subsequently got disqualified because of a positive post-race drug test, and Back to Ohio was later ruled the official victress.
She scored in another state-bred stakes Aug. 13 at Thistledown by 5 1/2 lengths as the 9-10 favorite, then bested open-company fillies at Presque Isle by 2 1/2 lengths in a $99,900 stakes.
Her powerhouse performance in the 1 1/16-mile $100,000 John W. Galbreath S. on Oct. 29 wasn't without an anxious moment at the start. Making her two-turn debut, Back to Ohio got crunched at the break, then settled willingly and stalked a dueling duo until the far turn, when she inhaled the pacemakers and drew off under the lightest of encouragement from jockey Jareth Loveberry as the 2-5 chalk.
Breeders' Cup week is now upon us. Back to Ohio won't be there and Tyler's Tribe will. But that's not the point.
When you're five-for-five, the sky's the limit, and everybody in the Back to Ohio equation–from small-scale breeders to her well-established owner, trainer and jockey connections–can enjoy the rush that comes with the promise of possibility.
Backspin, baby!
In May, TDN colleague Bill Finley profiled Houston Astros all-star third baseman Alex Bregman's first win as a Thoroughbred owner in a partnership that involves his family members. On Saturday night, the slugger clocked a two-run homer to propel his team to victory over the Philadelphia Phillies to even the World Series at one game apiece.
Bregman Family Racing LLC also took a step up in class over the weekend. Baby Got Backspin (Kantharos), a 2-year-old maiden filly competing against winners, ran third at 9-1 odds in the $200,000 Myrtlewood S. at Keeneland.
The “backspin” part of the filly's name references a baseball term that describes how power hitters launch batted balls over long distances.
An unraced colt in the Bregman stable is Golden Sombrero (Medaglia d'Oro), named after the inglorious feat of striking out four times in a game.
“Total reverse psychology,” Bregman joked about the name choice to baseball writer Ken Rosenthal in a Sunday piece in The Athletic.
Down to the wire…
Maybe someday in the near future the sport will feature prop bets or exchange wagering on winning meet-specific titles. We're not quite at that point yet, but the closing weekend at Keeneland would have provided an intriguing example, as the winningest owner, trainer and jockey honors all were decided on the final day of racing.
The riding-title race in particular was dramatic: Tyler Gaffalione notched two victories Friday to give him 19 going into the final day of the 17-day fall meet. His closest pursuer, Luis Saez, won one race on Friday to put him at 18. On the final day of the meet, Gaffalione, seeking his sixth Keeneland riding title, had eight mounts versus 10 for Saez.
Saez and Gaffalione ran one-two in that order in the Saturday opener. They remained tied for the title until race five, won by Saez, then Gaffalione captured the eighth, again deadlocking the score. They both had mounts in the five-horse featured ninth, in which Gaffalione got third while Saez was last on the favorite.
Tied going into the nightcap, Gaffalione had no mount, but Saez pulled off a 26-1 shocker, securing the riding title in an unlikely fashion.
Tour de Fort
There are still a handful of tracks that card closing-day “marathon” races on the final days of race meets, and Fort Erie is one of them.
Known locally as the “Tour de Fort,” the 2 mile and 70 yard curtain-closer this year was just pure fun to watch for the novelty of it (with the beautiful late-October Ontario foliage adding style points).
The $10,000 starter/optional $12,500 claimer Oct. 24 featured too-fast-to-last splits of :23.89 and :47.73 for the opening quarter and half, and the eventual winner, Trinity Gold (Flat Out) was charted as being 23 lengths last during the first of two laps.
Jockey Brandon Boulanger started to let the three-for-15 gelding unwind at the five-eighths pole the second time down the backstretch. The move appeared almost certainly premature considering how rapidly Trinity Gold picked off the pack with a rush that landed him on the lead with 3 1/2 furlongs still left in the race and odds-on favorite Seventyseven Stone (Seventysevenatreet) coming at him full-tilt.
The two stayers hooked up for a hard-fought, length-of-stretch drive that featured Trinity Gold edging away by 2 ½ lengths under the wire with the rest of the stragglers no closer than 12 lengths back in 3:35.98. George Newland trained the winner for Trinity Racing Stables, Inc.
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