Bad Beat Brian

In a mad scramble for the wire in Saturday's $1-million GII Ainsworth Turf Sprint S. at Kentucky Downs, 23-1 Calumet homebred Gear Jockey (6, h, Twirling Candy--Switching Gears, by Tapit) got a desperate head down in front of 3-2 choice One Timer (Trappe Shot) and 11-1 Bad Beat Brian (Jack Milton). It was a repeat of his success in this same race two years ago when it was a Grade III, albeit by a far slimmer margin. Final time for the six furlongs was 1:10.59. The Turf Sprint is a...

In Keeneland's second consecutive race Saturday with a Breeders' Cup-winning mare from last November returning to the scene of her greatest triumph for her 2023 debut, CARAVEL (m, 6, Mizzen Mast-Zeezee Zoomzoom, by Congrats) won the Lexington oval's GII Shakertown S. She was last seen taking the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint over this course and distance Nov. 5. It was deja vu, as just like last November, when Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) won the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in the race immediately preceding the Turf Sprint on...

Trainer Mike Maker racked up his series-leading 19th career Claiming Crown victory, conditioner Saffie Joseph Jr. won three of the stakes conducted under starter-allowance conditions, and jockey Paco Lopez won five races overall on the Saturday card to kick off the championship meet at Gulfstream Park. The Claiming Crown began in 1999 as a blue-collar version of the Breeders' Cup to reward primarily older horses who compete in the types of races that form the backbone of day-to-day American racing. But oddly enough, it was a lightly-raced 3-year-old homebred who...