Kentucky Downs: Ag Bullet is 1 of 4 undercard stakes winners

Ag Bullet led the whole way and held on to win Saturday for the second consecutive year in the Grade 2, $2 million Ladies Turf Sprint for 12 fillies and mares who raced 6 1/2 furlongs at Kentucky Downs.

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A 5-year-old mare owned by Vietnam-born brothers Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran, the daughter of Twirling Candy successfully backed up her June 8 victory in the Jaipur (G1) at Saratoga. With Luis Sáez riding for trainer Richard Baltas, Ag Bullet clicked off early fractions of 21.74, 43.24 and 1:06.66 on her way to a three-quarter-length triumph and a winning time of 1:13.13 on the firm turf.

Simply in Front (15-1) finished second, and Jody’s Pride (23-1) wound up third.

Ag Bullet returned $5.34, $3.72 and $3.08; Simply in Front $10.42 and $5.56; and Jody’s Pride $10.64.

Special Wan rallies, wins Ladies Turf

Post-time favorite Special Wan (2-1) emerged from a tight battle down the stretch to edge Segesta by a half-length in the one-mile, $1.316 million Ladies Turf (G3) for 10 fillies and mares, ages 3 and up.

Trained by Brendan Walsh for owners Team Valor International and Steven Rocco, the 5-year-old Belardo mare ridden by Joel Rosario went to the outside of Segesta on her way to her third win since she moved across the ocean from her native Ireland. Special Wan won her U.S. debut in an allowance race last summer at Kentucky Downs.

Segesta finished second, In Our Time third and Cheshire Dancer fourth.

Special Wan had a winning time of 1:31.74 following early fractions of 21.74, 44.24, 1:07.03 and 1:19.01. She paid $6.44, $4.14 and $3.32. Segesta returned $7.92 and $5.14. In Our Time paid $7.66 to show.

Bear River scores at 19-1 in Turf Sprint

Nearly four weeks after winning the formal prep at Ellis Park, 4-year-old ridgling Bear River led throughout to complete a 19-1 upset by a half-length in the six-furlong, $1.87 million Turf Sprint (G2) for 12 horses in open company.

Owned by Charles Marquis and trained by Keith Desormeaux, the son of Flameaway held off a late rally by Howard Wolowitz (1-1), who engineered a late comeback only after he could not doctor a launch through rail traffic.

Bear River paid $40.30, $11.76 and $7.06; Howard Wolowitz $3.26 and $2.60; and third-place Khaadem (6-1) paid $4.32 to show.

The winning time was 1:06.91 after early splits of 22.42, 44.69 and 55.65.

Bear River earned a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint thanks to Saturday’s victory.

Flatten the Curve gets 1st U.S. win

After conceding as many as 7 1/2 lengths early, Germany-based Flatten the Curve (2-1) accelerated through the last of three turns Saturday on his way to a 5 1/2-length triumph in the $655,000 Bowling Green Gold Cup Invitational, a 2 1/16-mile marathon for six open-company horses at Kentucky Downs.

Making his second U.S. start, the 6-year-old Zarak gelding owned by Eckhard Sauren rallied for his second consecutive win. After he finished fourth in the off-the-turf Belmont Gold Cup Invitational (G3) on June 6 at Saratoga, Flatten the Curve went back home to win a $29,436 handicap last month at Hamburg.

Trained by Hank Grewe and ridden by Thore Hammer Hansen, Flatten the Curve paid $6.20, $3.62 and $2.90. Second-place Tawny Port (7-2) returned $4.78 and $2.74. Post-time favorite Limited Liability (7-5) paid $2.14 to show.

There were no final or fractional times shown for the race. It continued a trend for the new McLloyd timing system, which made a troubled debut on opening day Thursday.