By Alan Carasso
One of two fillies in a scratched down field of six for Thursday's Kentucky Juvenile Stakes, Pinky Finger (Army Mule) made those that swallowed the 1-2 starting price sweat it out in the waning strides, but was home narrowly best to run her record to two wins from as many appearances.
A 7 1/2-length debut winner at even-money at Keeneland while also facing the boys Apr. 7, the $90,000 Keeneland November weanling hit the ground running here and dueled through the early stages with Monster (Leinster) before opening up some daylight on the turn. Clear of her rivals as they hit the stretch, she was put to a more vigorous drive inside the final furlong and scraped home a narrow winner as Maximus Prime (Maximus Mischief) took ground off her with every stride, but was fractionally too late. The winner's stablemate Double Talker (Hootenanny), himself a first-out winner in Lexington Apr. 10, looked dangerous for a stride or two with less than an eighth of a mile to travel, but could do no better than third.
SpearmaCo acquired Bird Map for $40,000 with this filly in utero at the 2022 Keeneland November Sale. The mare is a half-sister to seven winners, including the Grade II-placed Bird Maker (Empire Maker), MSP Watch this Birdie (Astern {Aus}) and SP Cheechako (Invasor {Arg}). Bird Map's half-sister Bird Sense (Street Sense) produced Marylou Whitney's 2021 GIII Schuylerville Stakes heroine Pretty Birdie (Bird Song), who was runner-up in this track's GII Eight Belles Stakes the following May. Third dam Dearest Gulch was a half-sister to Whitney's 2003 GI Kentucky Oaks winner Bird Town (Cape Town).
Pinky Finger is one of 108 individual winners for her sire, who has now been represented by an incredible 16 stakes winners from roughly 160 starters. Ward told Churchill's Joe Kristufek that Pinky Finger has worked on the grass and handled it well and could be under consideration for a trip to Royal Ascot in about six weeks' time.
Returned to the 2023 November Sale, Bird Map fetched $40,000 from Cromwell Bloodstock and produced a filly by Aloha West in 2024. The mare was most recently served by Hard Spun.
KENTUCKY JUVENILE S., $246,500, Churchill Downs, 5-1, 2yo, 5f, :58.32, ft.
1–PINKY FINGER, 118, f, 2, by Army Mule
1st Dam: Bird Map, by Liam's Map
2nd Dam: Bird Harbor, by Boston Harbor
3rd Dam: Dearest Gulch, by Gulch
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. ($90,000 Wlg '23 KEENOV). O/T-Wesley A Ward; B-SpearmaCo (KY); J-Joel Rosario. $152,760. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $203,678.
2–Maximus Prime, 118, c, 2, Maximus Mischief–Sweet Alternative, by Alternation. 1ST BLACK-TYPE. ($50,000 Ylg '24 FTKOCT). O-Gary Bizzack & Tiffany Bizzack; B-Brandywine Farm (Jim & Pam Robinson) (KY); T-Larry W Demeritte. $49,600.
3–Double Talker, 120, g, 2, Hootenanny–Valentine's Nay, by No Nay Never. 1ST BLACK-TYPE. O/B-Ice Wine Stable (KY); T-Wesley A Ward. $24,800.
Margins: HF, 1 3/4, 3 3/4. Odds: 0.51, 10.65, 4.07.
Also Ran: Happyhappyboy, Daring Move, Monster. Scratched: Barstool, Diblasi. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
PINKY FINGER ($3.02) does it again! The filly beat the boys and gets her first stakes win in the $250,000 Kentucky Juvenile Stakes at @ChurchillDowns. The 2YO daughter of Army Mule is trained by Wesley Ward, @JRosarioJockey was up. pic.twitter.com/hLUiEJ4csZ
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) May 1, 2025
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
