Aruna Topples Pachattack in Spinster
Flaxman Holdings Ltd.’s Aruna, ridden by Ramon Dominguez, swept past the
leaders with a six-wide move at the eighth pole and went on to defeat
Pachattack by a half-length to win the 56th running of the $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) before a crowd of 15,350 on Sunday afternoon at Keeneland.
The
victory earned Aruna a spot in the starting gate for the Breeders’ Cup
Ladies’ Classic (G1) to be run November 4 at Churchill Downs.
In
making her all-weather track debut, Aruna raced seventh in the field of
12 in the early going as Embur’s Song led the field through fractions
of :23.39, :46.41 and 1:10.76 while getting token pressure from
Tapitsfly and Dynazaper.
Dominguez kept Aruna in the clear and began to move to the outside leaving the far turn. Embur’s Song gave up the lead at the eighth pole as Aruna, Pachattack and a wave of stretch runners surged past with Aruna coasting to the wire in 1:47.88 for the 1 1/8 miles on the main track.
Trained by Graham Motion, Aruna added $300,000 to her bankroll to boost her earnings to $759,379 with a record of 12-6-3-1. Bred in Kentucky, Aruna is a homebred daughter of Mr. Greeley out of the Unbridled mare Surya.
The victory gave Dominguez his second Grade 1 victory in two days, following Gio Ponti’s victory in the $600,000 Shadwell Turf Mile.
Aruna returned $6.80, $3.60 and $3. Pachattack, ridden by Rajiv Maragh, returned $4.20 and $3.40 with longshot La Gran Bailadora rallying for third another 1¼ lengths back under Corey Lanerie and paying $7.80 to show.
Completing the field in order were Protesting, Stars to Shine, Well Monied, Sugar Again, Dynazaper, Tesoro de Amor, Super Espresso, Embur’s Song and Tapitsfly.