Banned showed an explosive turn of foot in the Grade 2 American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks day.
As expected, Great Mills set the pace under Julien Leparoux and for a brief moment it looked like the Steve Asmussen trainee would grab the candy but Banned was picking off horses on the outside and thundered past the field for an easy win under Garrett Gomez. The Tom Proctor trainee, owned by Glen Hill Farm, paid $8.60.
The battle for second was a good one with Close Ally just besting Air Support. The superfecta was completed by early runner Great Mills.
Banned, a 3-year-old son of Kitten's Joy, is an exciting turf prospect. He easily captured his first two turf starts last year and was not disgraced in a 5th place Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf effort to end his juvenile campaign. He lost a three-horse photo in his Keeneland turf return before his visually impressive performance on Friday.