My Baby Baby tracked the early pacesetters in fourth, made an outside
move on the final turn to grab the lead from Tapitsfly and held off a
late charge from fast-closing longshot Ravi’s Song to win Saturday’s
Grade III, $113,900 Early Times Mint Julep Handicap by a neck at Churchill
Downs.
The victory gave trainer Ken
McPeek his third straight stakes win at Churchill Downs. Last Saturday, the
48-year-old swept a pair of Grade III events, the Dogwood and Aristides, with Salty
Strike and Noble’s Promise, respectively. McPeek now has 20 stakes
wins overall beneath the Twin Spires.
My Baby Baby, owned by McPeek’s
family racing operation Magdalena Racing, covered 1 1/16 miles on “good”
turf in 1:42.40 under jockey Manny Cruz, who rode five winners on the
day.
“I was able to keep this mare
relaxed,” Cruz said. “I knew she wanted to go, but she let me hold her and she
stayed comfortable. I had a hold on her all the way into the stretch and then I
finally let her run and she took off.”
Abuela, a 53-1 outsider, led the 10-horse field of fillies and
mares through the first half-mile in fractions of :24.06 and :48.27. Tapitsfly
was in close pursuit and took command down the backstretch, clocking six
furlongs in 1:12.20. My Baby Baby raced in the clear from fourth most of the
way and drew even entering the stretch. Runner-up Ravi’s Song saved ground
along the inside until she swung out for an outside rally to just miss. She
finished a nose ahead of Tapitsfly in third.
Snow Top Mountain, the slight 2-1 favorite over Check the Label,
finished another length back in fourth and was followed by Askbut I
Won’ttell, Abuela, Silver La Belle, Sweetest Song, Check the
Label and Vivo Per Lei. Bella Medaglia was scratched.
My Baby Baby returned mutuels of
$17.20, $8.20 and $5.20. Ravi’s Song paid $13.40 and $7.80. Tapitsfly returned
$4.40.
In all likeliness, the Early Times
Mint Julep was the final start of My Baby Baby’s 30-race career. The 6-year-old
mare won while in foal to 2007-08 Horse of the Year Curlin, and she’ll
give birth early next year. She was covered Feb. 12.
“I’m so proud of her that she
finally got that elusive graded stakes win,” McPeek said. “She’s been knocking
on the door and had been graded stakes-placed five times.”
The $67,088 first prize jumped My
Baby Baby’s earnings to $493,739. The Kentucky-bred daughter of Bernstein has
seven wins, eight seconds and six thirds from 30 starts.
Racing at Churchill Downs resumes
Sunday with a 10-race program that begins at 12:45 p.m. There will be a
five-day Pick 6 carryover of $32,429 on Races 5-10.
EARLY
TIMES MINT JULEP HANDICAP QUOTES
Manny Cruz, rider of My Baby Baby
(winner): “I was able to keep this mare
relaxed. I knew she wanted to go, but she let me hold her and she stayed
comfortable. I had a hold on her all the way into the stretch and then I
finally let her run and she took off.
“There are a lot more (stakes wins)
to come for me. I’m very excited to be here in Kentucky and I am going to work
very, very hard. I hope the trainers help me. If they give me the chance, I
promise to show them what I can do.”
Ken McPeek, trainer of My Baby Baby
(winner): “She’s really special. She also
ran on no Lasix today…just like Salty Strike when she won the Dogwood. Also,
she (My Baby Baby) is in-foal to Curlin. This will probably be her last race.
I’m tempted to run her one more because she’s doing so well, but more than
likely she will be retired.”
Q: On three stakes wins in a row: “We’ve got a nice base of horses in the barn and it’s been
really fun. We’re going to run three in the Regret so hopefully we can get
another one.”
Carl Bowman, trainer of Ravi’s Song
(runner-up)
Q: That was quite a debut on grass …“To say that I knew she would love the grass – I can’t tell
you that. She worked well enough on the grass, but it was more of a race of
necessity. We have difficulty filling races (at Churchill Downs) going two
turns on dirt and there were no more for her. But it worked out well.”
Q: She’s a good filly and you’ve
been looking to find the right button for her … “I think I’ve finally got her where she needs to be. I got
her off rhythm last year. But she’s come to form and Corey (Lanerie) has ridden
her great.”
Corey Lanerie, jockey on Ravi’s Song
(runner-up): “She ran awesome. At the sixteenth
pole I thought I had ‘em. I was able to save all the ground and came out to the
middle of the track. When I put her out there, I don’t know, she might have got
lost. It was her first time on the grass and stuff, and I think she didn’t run
as hard as she could have to the wire. But then again, maybe she just got
outrun. There were some nice horses in there and to run second, and just get
beat, is not an embarrassment.”
Q: You are having and amazing meet –
six winners over the last two days and a near-upset here …“I wish I knew what I was doing to be sure to keep going,
but things have just gone good and I’m enjoying it and thankful for it.”
Miguel Mena, jockey on Tapitsfly
(third): “She ran good today. I had a good
trip and an easy lead. You couldn’t ask for a better trip. She tried to come
back at the end, but we just got outrun.”
Robby Albarado, jockey on Snow Top
Mountain (fourth): “She had a great trip. I had a
shot to get there turning for home, but she stayed where she was. Those were
good fillies there – a Breeders’ Cup winner, My Baby Bay. It was just a group
of nice horses there.”