Keeneland: O’Connor finally scores U.S. stakes win in Fayette

Lexington, Ky.

Keeneland’s last graded stakes of 2023 did not lack for thrills Saturday, even if the winner who came out of a three-way fight to the finish had been lacking for victories lately.

O’Connor, whose last trip to the winner’s circle came a year ago at Gulfstream Park, held his ground in the three path and had just enough more than Il Miracolo and Speed Bias to win by a head in the Grade 2, $350,000 Fayette Stakes.

Click here for Keeneland entries and results.

“He ran a big race,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said by phone from Florida, where he watched live video of O’Connor’s air-tight win in the 1 1/8-mile race. “He was given a top-class ride by Tyler (Gaffalione). The ride was probably the difference between winning and running second.”

The finish was not bumpy enough for stewards to light the inquiry sign, but the top three were up close and personal with one another in the deep stretch.

Closing from next to last in the field of eight, O’Connor (5-1) swung five wide coming out of the second turn to challenge Speed Bias for the lead. As Gaffalione angled him inward, O’Connor brushed Il Miracolo (5-1), who Luis Sáez had taken from tight quarters in midpack to second place in the two path. After stalking the early pace, Speed Bias (13-1) found the lead with Ricardo Santana Jr. riding him along the rail.

Through the last furlong, the three of them were only a head apart.

“I was following Luis, and he looked like he had plenty of horse left,” Gaffalione said. “My horse just kept responding every time I asked him.”

O’Connor got his head in front just past the eighth pole. In a battle between three game horses, he was the gamest.

“I really wish I could be outside, but we couldn’t,” Sáez said after 3-year-old Gun Runner colt Il Miracolo, who was third last out in the Pennsylvania Derby (G1), settled for a close second Saturday. “I had to stay there (in the middle), and that was kind of where to go. ... He ran a pretty big race. I feel like if he was in the clear with a clean trip, he would have run better.”

Speed Bias, who was ridden by Gaffalione to a close fourth last out in a Churchill Downs allowance race last month, finished third under Ricardo Santana Jr. in an effort that will show up as a head loss in past performances. In his nine-furlong starts, the 4-year-old Uncle Mo colt is 4: 0-3-1.

“I wouldn’t have traded places with anybody at the head of the stretch,” said assistant Chance Moquett, the son of trainer Ron Moquett. “I thought he ran his heart out. He’s awesome. ... (He needed) another sixteenth of a mile.”

On a humid, overcast, 68-degree day, O’Connor was clocked at 1:50.61 on the fast, main track. He chased early fractions of 23.55 seconds, 47.48, 1:11.82 and 1:37.39. O’Connor paid $12.92, $6.86 and $4.96; Il Miracolo $6.22 and $4.82; and Speed Bias $6.60. They were followed in order by early pacesetter Twilight Blue (9-1), Dash Attack (6-1), Law Professor (5-1), post-time favorite Trademark (2-1) and Happy American (7-1).

A 6-year-old horse who was an August foal in Chile, O’Connor finally got the graded-stakes win that had eluded him since he was moved to North America in the middle of last year. Before Saturday, his last graded or group win came in the Gran Premio Latinoamericano (G1) in April 2022 at the Hipódromo Chile.

The son of Boboman co-owned by Michael and Julia Iavarone of Big Brown fame and by Fernando Vine made his U.S. debut last October with an allowance win at Gulfstream Park. Then came six straight losses, including an 11th-place disappointment in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and a close second to Clapton in the Ghostzapper (G3).

Surgery to correct an entrapped epiglottis this spring preceded four months off. Then O’Connor came back with a third in the West Virginia Governor’s (G3), a distant second in the Charles Town Classic (G2) and a fifth early this month in the Woodward (G2).

“Today he kind of came in more reserved, and today he delivered,” Joseph said. “He showed the ability he has, and he obviously got a top-class ride from Tyler.”

Gaffalione was the sixth different rider Joseph tried in the eight races he has had O’Connor. Whether that pairing stay intact remains to be seen. In the meantime, Joseph said the long-range goal will be a second try come January in the $3 million Pegasus at Gulfstream Park.

“We’ve talked about the Clark,” Joseph said, referring to the Grade 2 test Nov. 24 that is the signature race of the Churchill Downs fall meet. “The goal for him is to work back from the Pegasus. For a lot of the owners, that’s the important race for them, so it’s how do we get back to the Pegasus from here.”