Minaret Station, Governor Sam take stakes for 2-year-olds; jockey Paco Lopez earns 4,000th win

Juddmonte’s homebred champion Idiomatic grabbed the lead at the start, fended off a challenge at the top of the stretch and cruised to a 6½-length victory over Occult in the 69th running of the $600,000 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) for fillies and mares Sunday afternoon at Keeneland.

Also posting stakes victories were Minaret Station in the 34th running of the $350,000 Castle & Key Bourbon (G2) for 2-year-olds and Governor Sam in the seventh running of the $250,000 Indian Summer (L) Presented by Keeneland Select for 2-year-olds.

With the repeat victory in the Juddmonte Spinster, Idiomatic earned a fees-paid berth into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1), a race she won last year at Santa Anita en route to earning the Eclipse Award as champion older dirt female. 

Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Florent Geroux, Idiomatic completed the 1⅛ miles on the fast main track in 1:49.04. Idiomatic became the fifth runner to win the Juddmonte Spinster in consecutive years with the most recent being Blue Prize (ARG) in 2018-2019.

Idiomatic broke sharply and led the race to the first turn ahead of Candied and Loved. She then set unopposed fractions of :23.53, :47.01 and 1:11.10. On the far turn, Candied and Loved both closed in on Idiomatic only to have Idiomatic scamper clear at the top of the stretch and ran unthreatened to the finish.

Idiomatic is a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Curlin out of the First Defence mare Lockdown. Now a five-time Grade 1 winner, Idiomatic increased her earnings to $3,944,190 with Sunday’s $367,350 check and improved her record to 17-12-3-2.

Idiomatic returned $2.64, $2.16 and $2.10. Occult, who rallied for second under Jose Ortiz, returned $5.86 and $3.16 and finished three-quarters of a length in front of Candied, who paid $2.36 to show under Luis Saez.

Loved finished fourth another 1¾ lengths back and was followed in order by Honor D Lady and Bow Draw.

Longshot Minaret Station wins Castle & Key Bourbon

OXO Equine’s homebred Minaret Station rallied from far back to spring a 38-1 upset in the Castle & Key Bourbon (G2) by 1½ lengths over Golden Afternoon.

Trained by Will Walden and ridden by Cristian Torres, Minaret Station completed the 1 1/16 miles over the firm turf course in 1:42.28. It is the first Keeneland stakes victory for Walden.

With the victory, Minaret Station earned a fees-paid berth into the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) to be run Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

Clock Tower set the pace with fractions of :22.29, :47.02 and 1:11.79 with Golden Afternoon, Warheart, Reach for the Rose and Cavallo Bay (GB) in closest pursuit while Minaret Station raced near the rear of the 12-horse field.

Getting a ground-saving trip from Torres, Minaret Station began closing in on the far turn and was sixth as the field turned into the stretch. Still fifth at the eighth pole, Minaret Station swung out four wide at the sixteenth pole and rocketed past the dueling leaders for the victory.

Minaret Station is a Kentucky-bred son of Instilled Regard out of four-time Grade 2 winner Beau Recall (IRE). A winner of two of three races, Minaret Station earned $198,013 with the win to boost his earnings to $223,968.

Minaret Station rewarded his backers with payoffs of $78.88, $33.22 and $18.46. Golden Afternoon, ridden by Luis Saez, returned $13.48 and $8.30 and finished a half-length in front of Clock Tower, who paid $6.12 to show under Gerardo Corrales.

It was another half-length back to Cavallo Bay with Warlander, Giocoso, Warheart, Siesta Key, Reach for the Rose, Papiamento, Fleming and Baytown Baracus following in order.

Governor Sam wins Indian Summer Presented by Keeneland Select 
to give Lopez milestone victory

Bregman Family Racing and Swinbank Stables’ Governor Sam emerged from a tight pack shortly after the start to take the lead and never trailed again under Paco Lopez to hold on for a neck victory over Out On Bail in the Indian Summer (L) Presented by Keeneland Select.

The victory was the 4,000th of Lopez’s career, making him the 84th North American rider to reach that milestone. Five of those victories have come in Keeneland stakes.

Trained by George Weaver, Governor Sam covered the 5½ furlongs on the firm turf course in 1:02.72.

Governor Sam held a slim lead over Floodlites as they raced through fractions of :20.81 and :44.06. The running order remained unchanged until deep stretch when Floodlites began to retreat and Out On Bail loomed as the new danger only to come up short at the finish.

The victory was worth $141,438 for Governor Sam, who won his fourth consecutive race and third stakes. Now the earner of $334,288, Governor Sam is a Kentucky-bred son of Improbable out of the Into Mischief mare I’m Betty G.

Sent off as the favorite, Governor Sam returned $5.48, $3.60 and $3.26. Out On Bail, ridden by Luis Saez, returned $6.98 and $4.96 and finished 1½ lengths in front of Floodlites, who paid $6.70 to show under Gerardo Corrales.

It was another neck back to Chasing Liberty with G W’s Girl, Moon Sniper, Pharoah’s Dynasty, Just Keep Looking, Fiddling Felix, Bad Gal Party, Jet Sweep Joe and Raise the Bar following in order.

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Because the early Pick 5 was not hit at Keeneland today, the carryover of $265,934 will carry forward to the early Pick 5 on Wednesday, when racing resumes with an eight-race program that begins at 1 p.m. ET.