Trainer Mike Maker and jockey Victor Lebron visited the winner's circle for a fourth time on Saturday's Kentucky Cup card at Turfway Park after F. Thomas Conway and Matt Conway's MATTHEWSBURG (Ghostzapper) proved a decisive winner of the $100,000 Kentucky Cup Sprint (G3) for three-year-olds going six furlongs on the Polytrack. Racing very wide down the backside from an outside draw, the colt made significant advance around the far turn to get within a length of the lead. Continuing his wide rally, Matthewsburg struck the front in upper stretch and rolled to a 2 1/4-length victory in a time of 1:10 1/5. He paid $20.60, $9.60 and $5.40 as the 9-1 sixth choice on the board.
A two-horse duel in the opening quarter provided the quick pace Matthewsburg needed. Song of Humor (Songandaprayer) and Will's Wildcat (Eurosilver) were heads apart through a quarter in :21 4/5, but the latter pulled ahead as the half was reached in :45. Song of Humor had begun to retreat by that point as Phillippe (Mineshaft) and Matthewsburg ranged up on the outside.
At the top of the stretch, the race boiled down to Phillippe and Matthewsburg, but the latter proved too tough to fend off. Phillippe had a fight to hold off a determined Will's Wildcat along the inside to land second money. Ultimately he did so, by a head, with Song of Humor 4 1/2 lengths behind in fourth.
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