Jones, Oscar, and Wonderment blow in at Turfway

The biggest day of the year at Turfway Park blew in today, and kept blowing all day long. Harsh winds may have been the order of the day here in Northern Kentucky, but for trainer Larry Jones, the weather outside was wonderful. 32 years into his successful career, the likable trainer notched career win #1,000 in today’s Rushaway Stakes thanks to an unheralded 12-1 shot named, He’ll Pay. Always modest, the Kentucky native, and former farmer, was quick to credit his rider.

“He (Mitchell Murrill) did a masterful job saving ground every shot he got, coming from the 12 hole and that short run to the turn,” said Jones. “We were a lot wider in the first turn that I wanted to be but he just kept easing down, easing down, then skimmed the rail in the last turn. That was the winning move. This wind—the horses switch leads but the wind is blowing so hard they switch back again trying to stay under the rider. But we withstood that battle and the objection so it’s all good.”

The objection, which was lodged by rider Florent Geroux, aboard Gimlet, was disallowed, and the son of Haynesfield was cleared to keep his 1 ½-length win and collect his second victory in a row, after going winless in his first six starts. Gimlet could do no better than fourth, while Virtual Machine was a much the best second, ahead of Rated R Superstar, who collected third place money.

Jones greeted his milestone win humility and humor. “It's been a long 32 years. It’s been an overnight 32-year success,” quipped the 59-year-old conditioner. While Jones may have stolen much of the day’s thunder, winning the Rushaway for longtime owner Brereton Jones, it was not the afternoon’s feature.

Photo courtesy of Coady Photography

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In the biggest race of the day, another upset was sprung as Oscar Nominated, one of four entrants for trainer Mike Maker, found the winner’s circle at odds of 23-1 in the $500,000 Spiral Stakes. A son of Kitten’s Joy, Oscar Nominated was let go at big odds despite coming in off a stakes win. That last win came at 7 ½ furlongs on the turf at Fair Grounds, but the stretch out to 1 1/8 miles and the switch to the Polytrack of Turfway proved no problem for the reformed claimer.

Claimed by Ken and Sarah Ramsey for $75,000 out of a 4 3/4-length romp over the Belmont lawn last October, the chestnut colt found himself in the middle of the pack early as Azar and Ralis set all the pace through opening fractions of :23.22 and :48.23. While Azar (8-1) eventually got the better of Ralis, Oscar Nominated swung out to make his move on the leaders approaching the stretch run.

Azar proved to be a game competitor, but the winner was resolute, and was able to hit the wire a neck the best in a final time of 1:51.12. Surgical Strike came running best late to get up for third, in a result that saw five horses within a length of each other at the wire. Longshot Two Step Time edged Ralis for fourth. Meanwhile, the two favorites, Airoforce and Kassopia could only manage eighth and seventh place finishes respectively.

The win was the third in seven career starts for Oscar Nominated, and with the 50 Kentucky Derby points earned from today’s Grade 3 win, he will qualify for the big one on May 7. Unfortunately, he is not Triple Crown nominated, so his connections would have to pony up a $200,000 supplemental fee for the Derby.

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In between the wins by Jones and Oscar, the fillies took to the track for the Grade 3 Bourbonette Oaks at a flat mile, and it was all about Wonderment. A New-York bred daughter of Cosmonaut, the three-year-old miss from the Ken McPeek barn went right to the lead and cruised around the track under Cornelio Velazquez for an easy 3 ¾-length victory. After two impressive wins last summer, Wonderment had been handed her first defeat when third in the Franklin Square Stakes in February at Aqueduct. She bounced back splendidly today, while raising her record to 4-3-0-1. After the race, which was completed in 1:39.04, McPeek talked about his filly’s show of speed.

“That last race, she was really sharp, and her gallops have been getting stronger and stronger, and her breezes have been so sharp, we were confident that she would like the route of ground,” said McPeek. “We work a lot of horses in company, young horses like her, but we can’t really work her in company. We probably spend more time in the morning trying to slow her down because we don’t want her to do too much. She used that speed today.”