Keeneland: Tony Ann upsets Caravel to win Franklin Stakes
Off at 7-1, Southern California-based Tony Ann outdueled defending winner Caravel through a deep-stretch run to post a neck victory Sunday afternoon in the 27th running of the Grade 2, $336,525 Franklin Stakes for fillies and mares at Keeneland.
Owned by Anthony Fanticola and A Venneri Racing, trained by Phil D’Amato and ridden by Flavien Prat, Tony Ann covered the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:02.42 on a turf course rated good.
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Ireland-bred Twilight Gleaming set a quick pace of 21.09 and 43.93 seconds while being pressured by B G Warrior as Caravel and Tony Ann raced in the second flight.
Twilight Gleaming shook off B G Warrior at the top of the stretch and owned a clear advantage until the eighth pole, when Caravel and Tony Ann closed in. Inside the sixteenth pole, Caravel and Tony Ann surged past, but Tony Ann had more momentum and inched past in the final yards.
“It felt like the pace was strong enough, and I was traveling really well behind Caravel, so I was pleased with my trip,” Prat said. “When I tipped her out, (Tony Ann) responded really well. I was a bit worried by the sixteenth pole, because Caravel came back on us, but she was really game. To go by Caravel, you’ve got to go all out, but she was really game today.”
Caravel started a five-race winning streak with last year’s Franklin. It included the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint over the same course. But since she won the Jaipur (G1) in June at Belmont Park, the 6-year-old Mizzen Mast mare trained by Brad Cox has been a beaten favorite twice, finishing fourth in the Troy (G3) at Saratoga before Sunday’s narrow defeat at odds of 7-10.
“The filly tried hard, but we just weren’t able to get her head in front today,” Caravel’s jockey Tyler Gaffalione said. “The fractions were solid, very fast, but I was content with where I was. I think my filly really struggled with the ground a bit today.”
Cox said despite the loss, a return to the Breeders’ Cup in 20 days still may be in the plans for Caravel.
“Good run. Just came up a touch short,” Cox said. “I am proud of the effort. She likes it here at Keeneland and ran another great race. Breeders’ Cup is definitely still something we are pointing towards. We’ll see how she comes out of this race and go from there.”
Tony Ann is a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Cairo Prince out of the In Excess mare Never Ever and was bred by co-owner Alex Venneri. If she goes in the Breeders’ Cup, it would be on her home track at Santa Anita.
It was the first stakes victory for Tony Ann, who improved her record to 10: 5-1-3 and boosted her career earnings to $511,883 with Sunday’s $208,863 check.
Tony Ann rewarded her backers with payoffs of $17.60, $5.84 and $4.02. Caravel returned $2.62 and $2.34. She finished three-quarters of a length in front of Train to Artemus, who paid $7.78 to show under Gerardo Corrales. It was another half-length back to Twilight Gleaming with Wakanaka, Bay Storm, Linguistic and B G Warrior following in that order.