By My Standards Classic-Bound After Alysheba Victory
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
By My Standards kicks away from his rivals in the Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs
The Sept. 4 Alysheba Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet (G2) at Churchill Downs was not an official Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race, but its winner is bound for the $7 million Longines Classic (G1) at Keeneland Nov. 7 all the same.
By My Standards ran his way into the Classic with a 1 3/4-length victory over Owendale in the $400,000 race on the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) undercard. The multiple graded stakes winner raced 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.24, paying $5 as the second choice.
Positioned near the lead by regular jockey Gabe Saez, By My Standards rated just off pacesetting Mr Freeze, chasing him through lethargic splits of :25.71 and :49.93. Then on the second turn, he went after the frontrunner while Owendale made a three-wide bid.
Soon after Mr Freeze completed six furlongs in 1:12.80, By My Standards took command, and though Owendale put in a steady effort, even he could not seriously challenge the winner. By My Standards maintained a clear advantage despite swapping leads a couple of times in the stretch.
"When it was time to get running around the half-mile pole, he picked up an extra gear," Saez said. "Each time I asked him to give me that acceleration, he did."
Owendale outlasted Silver Dust, denying winning trainer Bret Calhoun a 1-2 finish. Silver Dust closed from fifth after some early traffic to grab the show under Adam Beschizza, three-quarters of a length ahead of favored McKinzie, the winner of the 2019 Alysheba.
"We were finally in a spot where we could get up in position," Calhoun said, referring to second-place finishes from By My Standards in the Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) and Whitney Stakes (G1). "I think we got a little unlucky in the last two, stuck behind a slow pace. Today Gabe got him away sharp. We got good position, and the rest is history."
Calhoun indicated that By My Standards, a 4-year-old son of Goldencents owned by Chester Thomas' Allied Racing Stable, would head straight to the Classic without a race in between. He prefers the 1 1/4-mile distance of the Classic over the shorter distance of the $2 million Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile (G1) on the same card.
Thomas, whose longshot Mr. Big News races in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) for Calhoun, enjoyed the race with friends and family, who could be heard cheering the colt to victory before a largely empty grandstand amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I couldn't be more proud of our horse," he said.
Chester Thomas greets Gabriel Saez upon his return to the winner's circle aboard By My Standards
Bred in Kentucky By Don Ladd, By My Standards is the lone black-type winner from the stakes-winning Muqtarib mare A Jealous Woman. He was purchased for $150,000 by Josh Stevens Bloodstock, agent, from the consignment of Scanlon Training and Sales to the 2018 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. He has won six of 12 races and $1,764,430.
Multimillionaire McKinzie disappointed in his return following a fifth-place finish in the July 4 Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap (G1). He raced in traffic early, but once a large opening materialized at the head of the lane, he didn't pick up his pace enough under jockey Mike Smith to contend.