Keeneland roundup: Machado bounces back with 28-1 upset

Three days after he endured the misfortune of racing to the wrong finish line at Keeneland, jockey Luan Machado bounced back to ride also-eligible Brunacini over the same main track to a 28-1 upset Saturday in the Grade 3, $300,000 Perryville Stakes.

Bred and owned by Emilie Fojan, Brunacini held off odds-on favorite and Grade 1 winner Book’em Danno by a neck to win the 16th running of the race for 3-year-olds. Brunacini drew in because of four scratches from the main body of the race.

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Trained by Matt Sims, Brunacini completed the seven furlongs on the fast main track in a stakes-record time of 1:22.80. The victory was the first stakes triumph for Sims, son of Keeneland trainer Phil Sims. Matt Sims, who also is based at Keeneland, began training in 2023.

Goodlookinjustice and Patriot Spirit led the field of nine through fractions of 22.01 and 44.75 seconds with Epic Ride, Knightsbridge and Brunacini tracking in the second flight and Book’em Danno near the back of the pack.

At the top of the stretch Epic Ride took over with Brunacini to his outside. Behind them, Book’em Danno began slicing his way through the field. Brunacini gained the lead before the sixteenth pole and had enough left to hold off Book’em Danno to his inside.

Brunacini is a Kentucky-bred son of Dortmund out of Wilburn mare Our Conquistadora. A winner of 2 of 3 starts, Brunacini collected $147,250 for the victory that boosted his earnings to $191,270.

“I’m not surprised. He’s a very nice horse. ... I even joked to the guys in the room I don’t think he can be worse than third here,” Machado said. “I was super happy for everybody. They did such a great job with this horse. He’s not an easy horse to train. He’s so big, he thinks he’s a dinosaur. He’s very hard to gallop. Super tough.”

Brunacini rewarded his backers with payoffs of $58.16, $12.10 and $4.96. Book’em Danno, ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., returned $2.32 and $2.10 and finished three-quarters of a length in front of a dead heat for third. Knightsbridge paid $2.12 under Júnior Alvarado, and Epic Ride returned $2.56 under Édgar Morales.

It was another 1 3/4 lengths back to Love Me Tender. Patriot Spirit, Banjo Chris, Henro and Goodlookinjustice followed in that order.

Machado was suspended three days, specifically Oct. 27, 30 and 31, and he was fined $2,500 by Kentucky stewards after he eased 13-1 long shot Ultimate Strike in the last 100 yards of Wednesday’s 1 1/8-mile finale. He mistakenly thought the finish line was at the sixteenth pole, which is used at Keeneland for 1 1/16-mile races on the main track. The mistake cost Ultimate Strike the victory and altered the fate of countless wagers.

“That was an honest mistake,” Machado told BloodHorse on Saturday. “I rode as hard as I could to the first wire. I pulled up super happy for all the connections. When I found out I did it to the wrong wire, I just wanted to disappear. I’m so sorry for the connections. They’re such hard workers.”

Emery powers his way to win Raven Run

Emery took command at the top of the stretch en route to a two-length victory in the 26th running of the $350,000 Raven Run (G2) for 3-year-old fillies.

Fibber and Twirling Queen alternated on the front end through fractions of 22.53 and 45.29 seconds as Emery raced in the clear tracking in third. On the final turn, Emery moved up three wide on the leaders, overtook Fibber at the head of the stretch and had more than enough left to hold off a late bid from My Mane Squeeze.

Owned by Stonestreet Stables, trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Emery completed the seven furlongs in 1:23.21. The victory is the third in the race for Gaffalione, who won previously with Wicked Halo in 2022 and with Shamrock Rose in 2018.

It was the fourth stakes victory of the fall meet for both Cox and Gaffalione but the first one they achieved together.

Gaffalione, who won three races Saturday, leads jockeys with 19 victories during the meet. Cox leads trainers through Saturday’s 12th day of the 17-day season with 10 wins.

A Keeneland sales graduate, Emery is a Kentucky-bred daughter of More Than Ready out of Street Sense mare Athena. She has won 5 of 7 races with Gaffalione being aboard for all the victories.

The victory was worth $203,438 and improved her earnings to $655,986.

Emery returned $4.50, $3.22 and $2.44. My Mane Squeeze, ridden by Luis Sáez, returned $3.96 and $2.84 and finished 2 1/2 lengths in front of Fibber, who paid $3.86 to show under Rafael Bejarano.

It was a head back to V V’s Dream in fourth with Mink’s Palace, Miuccia, Haulin Ice, Riperton, Twirling Queen and Uno Le following in that order.