It was billed as a match-up between 4-year-old reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) and Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro), the leading sophomore filly nipping at her heels, but Gin Gin (Hightail) didn't get the memo, going wire-to-wire and holding off Nitrogen's last-gasp effort to narrowly upset the GI Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland Sunday. The victory earned the Calumet Farm homebred an automatic berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.
Let go at 18-1, Gin Gin was prompted by favored Thorpedo Anna through fractions of :23.74 and :46.69, with Nitrogen parked three wide while shadowing the top two. With Thorpedo Anna lacking any punch approaching the stretch, Nitrogen rushed up to challenge the pacesetter at the top of the lane. Gin Gin remained stubbornly in front and looked to have secured the victory after inching away as Nitrogen drifted out in deep stretch, but Nitrogen suddenly kicked back into gear and produced a late flourish to just miss in a dramatic photo finish.
“I knew we were rolling pretty fast, and we had pressure the whole way,” said winning rider Luis Saez. “But this filly loves the pressure. She was running pretty well. [Trainer] Brendan [Walsh] told me, 'Don't take anything away from her. Just let her run and let her be happy and she's going to finish for you.' And she did.”
Walsh added, “You think they're going a tick quick, but when she's out on the lead like that, I knew they weren't going to get by her without a fight, and that's all we wanted him to do, was give her her best chance, and he did. Hats off to her. She's very tough. At the end of the day, it's down to her.”
Jose Ortiz said he was satisfied with his trip aboard narrowly beaten Nitrogen.
“[My trip] was good, I was very happy throughout,” Ortiz said. “I approached the quarter pole nicely, but I just couldn't come by. The filly dug in–congratulations to her connections.”
Mark Casse, trainer of the runner-up, said the Breeders' Cup would still be in play for Nitrogen.
“She was wide in the first turn, wide in the second turn,” Casse said. “But she showed me what I needed to see. I thought we had it. She wants a target and the pace wasn't fast enough. If she's OK, we're thinking the Breeders' Cup, but I'll have to talk to the Greens [owners Leonard and Jon Green of DJ Stable].”
Trainer Ken McPeek said the Breeders' Cup was likely off the table for champion Thorpedo Anna following her fourth-place effort in the Spinster.
“She's taken us on some incredible highs the last two years,” McPeek said of the defending Breeders' Cup Distaff winner. “We've had an amazing journey with her. Horses are like a wave. You are trying to catch a big wave. Unfortunately, this is not a good day for her. We're all disappointed. Not even going to think about Breeders' Cup right now.
McPeek continued, “These things don't last forever. No sure thing in this game. An old guy told me years ago, 'Win like you are used to it and lose like you like it.' It's a humbling business. They have good days and bad days. We are going to lose as gracefully as possible.”
Gin Gin, winner of last year's Busanda Stakes and third in the GIII Gazelle Stakes for trainer Brad Cox, is now two-for-two at Keeneland, where she won the GIII Doubledogdare Stakes in April in her first start for Walsh. She had only made two starts since the Doubledogdare, finishing second in the May 31 GIII Shawnee Stakes and fourth behind Thorpedo Anna in the June 28 GII Fasig-Tipton Fleur de Lis Stakes.
“It's great because she was in great order in the spring when she won the Doubledogdare, and we felt she went a little downwards on us after that,” Walsh said. “We brought her up to Saratoga–[assistant trainer] Charlie [Lynch] had her at Saratoga–and got her back up and right, and when she came back here, I couldn't believe how well she did, how good she looked and everything. When she's on song, she's actually a very, very good filly.”
Pedigree Notes:
Gin Gin is one of two graded winners for Hightail, whose son Mongolian Groom won the 2019 GI Awesome Again Stakes. The 15-year-old stallion, winner of the 2012 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint, stands at Calumet Farm for $7,500.
Calumet Farm purchased group-placed Before You Know It as a 5-year-old for $170,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. The mare is a half-sister to group-placed Instant Reflex (Quality Road), the dam of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Hard to Justify (Justify). She has a yearling full-brother to Gin Gin and, barren for this year, was bred back to Cody's Wish.
😲 #4 GIN GIN ($38.64) holds off Nitrogen in the @LanesEndFarms @BreedersCup WAYI 🏆 $650,000 @JuddmonteFarms Spinster Stakes (G1) at @KeenelandRacing. This is the first Grade 1 win for the @CalumetFarm homebred filly by Hightail. @luissaezpty was aboard for @brenpwalsh. pic.twitter.com/LXdaNzh6KT
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) October 5, 2025
Sunday, Keeneland
JUDDMONTE SPINSTER S.-GI, $650,000, Keeneland, 10-5, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:49.77, ft.
1–GIN GIN, 125, f, 4, by Hightail
1st Dam: Before You Know It (GSP, $313,083), by Hard Spun
2nd Dam: Without Delay, by Seeking the Gold
3rd Dam: Slow Down, by Seattle Slew
1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh; J-Luis Saez. $403,000. Lifetime Record: 13-4-3-2, $942,796. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Nitrogen, 121, f, 3, by Medaglia d'Oro
1st Dam: Tiffany Case (SP), by Uncle Mo
2nd Dam: Biblical Point, by Point Given
3rd Dam: Bibical Sense, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
O/B-D. J. Stable, LLC (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. $130,000.
3–Scylla, 125, m, 5, by Tapit
1st Dam: Close Hatches (Ch. Older Mare, MGISW, $2,707,300), by First Defence
2nd Dam: Rising Tornado, by Storm Cat
3rd Dam: Silver Star (GB), by Zafonic
O/B-Juddmonte Farms Inc (KY); T-William I. Mott. $65,000.
Margins: HD, 1 1/4, 7 1/4. Odds: 18.32, 2.10, 6.66.
Also Ran: Thorpedo Anna, Chilled.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
