Turfway Park: Bless the Broken, Mercante win early stakes

Bless the Broken secured 50 qualifying points and a likely spot in the Grade 1, $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks by winning Saturday in the 43rd running of the listed, $280,000 Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway Park.

Owned by Cypress Creek Equine and Madaket Stables, trained by Will Walden and ridden by Hall of Fame jockey John Velázquez, Bless the Broken completed the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.65 on the synthetic surface.

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The speedy White Rocks set the early fractions with Admit applying slight pressure to her inside going to the first turn. Following a quarter-mile in 24.24 seconds, White Rocks drew a length clear of Admit and completed a half-mile in 49.02 seconds. Velázquez tipped Bless the Broken to the three path and around the second turn drew within a length of White Rocks. At the top of the lane, Bless the Broken struck the front and kicked 2 3/4 lengths clear of As Catch Can, who closed late to finish second.

Admit, who had a troubled trip down the lane, finished third. She was followed by Bracelet, White Rocks, Zealous Moon, Golden Sunshine, Somethinabouther, Getting After It, Resolve and Just Ruthless in that order.

“We had her here at Turfway over the summer and saw how well she worked over this track,” Walden said. “So we had that in the back of our minds when prepping for this race that we knew she would handle the racetrack. It’s great to be in the Kentucky Oaks. Rain or shine, we will be there.”

Bless the Broken returned $15.18, $7.94 and $5.36.

“Once she was able to get into the clear she really came with a big run,” Velázquez said. “She handled the surface very well today and was impressive.”

The top five finishers of the Bourbonette Oaks earned 50-25-15-10-5 qualifying points toward a spot in the starting gate for the Kentucky Oaks on May 2.

Mercante (13-1) upsets Kentucky Cup Classic

Mercante battled the entire length of the stretch with Encino to pull a 13-1 upset victory in the 25th running of the Grade 3, $290,000 Kentucky Cup Classic.

With jockey Joe Ramos in the saddle for trainer Brian Knippenberg, Mercante completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.08 for a one-length victory.

Encino went to the early lead under jockey Luan Machado while completing early fractions of 23.48 and 47.48 seconds with Mercante tracking his every move in second.

Around the second turn Ramos began to ask Mercante to engage with Encino, and the two battled the entire length of the stretch with Mercante sticking his head in front inside the sixteenth pole.

“I can’t thank the connections enough for allowing me to ride this horse back,” Ramos said. “He was so game today and fought hard the entire stretch. We’re out here having fun on Turfway Park’s biggest day in front of a great crowd. You can’t really ask for anything more.”

Mercante, who is owned by Carl Pollard, rewarded his backers by returning $2 mutuel payouts of $28.50, $11.54 and $7.40. It was 6 3/4 lengths back to Hush of a Storm in third followed by Utah Beach, Gamer, Lord Bullingdon, Paros, Tapit Shoes, Highestdistinciton, Chiron and Verstappen.

It was Mercante’s fourth victory from 11 starts with three wins coming at Turfway Park. Mercante has banked purse earnings of $367,017.

A 5-year-old son of Gun Runner, Mercante is out of Pollard’s broodmare Caressing.