Burban Thrives Under the Twin Spires
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Photo:
Eclipse Sportswire
So-called
“horses for courses” merit serious respect any time they step on a tack
over which they have enjoyed significant success.
Joseph Sutton’s 5-year-old mare Burban
is a horse that has clearly thrived at Churchill Downs, and she’ll get a
chance to another win over her home track when she faces five rivals in
Saturday’s $100,000-added
Open Mind for fillies and mares three and up at six furlongs.
Trainer Eddie Kenneally’s filly has competed seven times over the Louisville surface and collected four wins – including two in stakes races – and a pair of runner-up finishes. Included in the latter was the strongest performance in her three years of racing: a runner-up effort in the slop behind Aubby K in the $300,000-added Humana Distaff (GI) on Kentucky Derby Day.
“She’s
been a good filly and her best effort was definitely was when she was
second in the mud in Grade 1 Humana Distaff on Derby Day,”
Kenneally said. “That was a real big effort from her and certainly
enhanced her value. But she’s won two stakes already this year, so she’s
had a good year.”
One of those stakes wins was
the Roxelana, an overnight stakes at Churchill Downs on June 2. She also
won the Break Thru at Aqueduct on April 2. But her 2-1-0 slate in six
2013 starts reflects an up-and-down season
that included a sixth-place run behind Aubby K in Gulfstream’s Inside
Information and a dull fifth-place finish behind Beat the Blues in Churchill Downs’ Winning Colors (GIII) on May27. She has earned $283,738 in 10 races spaced over three racing seasons.
In her most recent start,
Burban prompted the pace before she finished fifth of seven in
Saratoga’s Honorable Miss (GII) won by the streaking Dance to Bristol, who followed that triumph with a win the Ballerina
(GI) for her seventh consecutive win.
“The race at Saratoga was a
tough spot,” Kenneally said. “We ran into some really good quality
fillies up there. Our filly went well, but not well enough.”
Although Burban will face
five other stakes winners in the Open Mind, her Honorable Miss rivals
will not be among them. Kenneally hopes for a graded stakes victory in
Burban’s future, but Saturday’s race in the Open
Mind is his primary focus.
“Certainly this is an easier
spot,” Kenneally said. “She’s come into the race very well and we’re
confident she’ll run one of her better races. If she does, she’ll be
right there.”
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