My Boy Prince pulls off Shakertown upset at Keeneland

My Boy Prince stalked inside early and rallied from the four path entering the stretch, edging ahead at the furlong grounds and drawing off to a 1 1/4-length victory Saturday in the Grade 2, $400,000 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland.

José Ortiz rode the 5-1 winner for trainer Mark Casse and owner Gary Barber in the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for 3-year-olds and upward, which drew a field of 12 on the firm course.

"He jumped very good out of the gate and that helped me a lot," Ortiz said. "I was able to put him into a good position going into the turn. I just was waiting for the right time to take him outside and let him go, and when I did he was there for me."

Joe Shiesty (6-1) set the early pace with Usually Wrong (6-1) pressing from two wide through an opening quarter-mile in 21.53 seconds and a half in 44.22. My Boy Prince tracked along the inside before Ortiz shifted him out entering the lane.

Yellow Card (4-1), ridden by Flavien Prat for trainer Michael McCarthy, had early trouble when he got pinched back and steadied between horses at the nine-sixteenths pole. He recovered to fan out seven to eight wide in the upper stretch and rallied to reel in second at the wire, finishing a nose ahead of Mondogetsbuckets (17-1).

"I traveled off down the backside and after that I made a good run," Prat said.

Mondogetsbuckets, piloted by Tyler Gaffalione for trainer Chris Block, launched a rail rally around the turn, gained the place at the sixteenth pole but got nailed by Yellow Card at the wire. He settled for third, a neck behind the runner-up.

"My horse broke alertly," Gaffalione said. "We were able to get a nice tracking position. I followed the winner most of the way. Cut the corner. Just wasn't able to get up in time. Very happy with the effort."

Betting favorite Litigation (3-1), trained by Brian Lynch and ridden by Mario Gutierrez, shifted out to the six path between horses in the upper stretch and rallied but got outkicked late, finishing fourth by a nose.

"He ran his race. Just got outrun today," Lynch said. "Next stop Churchill Downs, where he will like firmer turf."

My Boy Prince completed the distance in 1:02.11 and paid $12.12, $6.02 and $4.00. Yellow Card returned $5.24 and $4.42. Mondogetsbuckets paid $10.84 to show.

Casse was emotional about the victory, which represented Barber's eighth graded stakes win at Keeneland.

"He's amazing," Casse said. "And I want to say a special thanks – anybody who knows my career knows Gary Barber's been a big part of it, and for him to win the (Milestone Tray) here at Keeneland means a lot. So it's a special day because My Boy Prince is a special horse and Gary Barber is definitely a special person to my family."

Casse credited a shift in strategy to turf sprinting for My Boy Prince's resurgence.

"Last year we started him at turf sprints in New York and he ran pretty good," Casse said. "We tried different things with him, but this year I gave him a break, brought him back, and that's what was presented to us. We tried it at Gulfstream, then we took him to Tampa, and I always felt this course would really suit him."

Joe Shiesty finished fifth, followed by Clock Tower, No Nay Hudson, Its Bourbon Thirty, Bear River, Rezasrolex, Heart Headed and Usually Wrong.