Flaxman Holdings Ltd.’s Aruna, ridden by Ramon Dominguez, swept past the
leaders with a six-wide move at the eighth pole and went on to defeat
Pachattack by a half-length to win the 56th running of the $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) before a crowd of 15,350 on Sunday afternoon at Keeneland.
The
victory earned Aruna a spot in the starting gate for the Breeders’ Cup
Ladies’ Classic (G1) to be run November 4 at Churchill Downs.
In
making her all-weather track debut, Aruna raced seventh in the field of
12 in the early going as Embur’s Song led the field through fractions
of :23.39, :46.41 and 1:10.76 while getting token pressure from
Tapitsfly and Dynazaper.
Dominguez
kept Aruna in the clear and began to move to the outside leaving the
far turn. Embur’s Song gave up the lead at the eighth pole as Aruna,
Pachattack and a wave of stretch runners surged past with Aruna coasting
to the wire in 1:47.88 for the 1 1/8 miles on the main track.
Trained
by Graham Motion, Aruna added $300,000 to her bankroll to boost her
earnings to $759,379 with a record of 12-6-3-1. Bred in Kentucky, Aruna
is a homebred daughter of Mr. Greeley out of the Unbridled mare Surya.
The
victory gave Dominguez his second Grade 1 victory in two days,
following Gio Ponti’s victory in the $600,000 Shadwell Turf Mile.
Aruna
returned $6.80, $3.60 and $3. Pachattack, ridden by Rajiv Maragh,
returned $4.20 and $3.40 with longshot La Gran Bailadora rallying for
third another 1¼ lengths back under Corey Lanerie and paying $7.80 to
show.
Completing
the field in order were Protesting, Stars to Shine, Well Monied, Sugar
Again, Dynazaper, Tesoro de Amor, Super Espresso, Embur’s Song and
Tapitsfly.