Rushie Too Quick in Pat Day Mile
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Photo: Rick Samuels
Rushie (center) wins the Pat Day Mile Stakes at Churchill Downs
Jim and Donna Daniell’s Rushie, at one time considered a contender for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), instead cut back to eight furlongs and proved best in the Sept. 5 Pat Day Mile Stakes Presented by LG and E and KU (G2). The 3-year-old son of Liam's Map got the one-turn mile in 1:34.41, defeating Sonneman by 1 3/4 lengths.
Rushie, trained by Michael McCarthy and based on the West Coast, finished third in the June 6 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1) behind top Derby contenders Honor A. P. and Authentic, then shipped to Kentucky for the July 11 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) where he was third behind Art Collector and Swiss Skydiver.
McCarthy backed off the Run for the Roses in favor of the shorter Pat Day Mile.
"The horse had been training very well after the Blue Grass, but I did not think he was battle-tested enough," he said.
Back in California after the Blue Grass, Rushie put in four serious works before traveling to Churchill Downs, three of them earning bullets.
That had him sharp for the Pat Day Mile. The scratches of morning-line favorite Cezanne and grade 1-winning No Parole reduced the field to seven.
The quick Vertical Threat set the early pace, leading as the field came out of the chute. With Tap It to Win tracking to the outside and Echo Town to the inside, Vertical Threat posted an opening quarter in :23.14 and a half-mile in :46.22 on the fast strip. As they rounded the turn after six furlongs in 1:09.77, Tap It to Win came with his run and Rushie made his move while wide under Javier Castellano. Rushie hit the front after seven panels in 1:21.65 and hit the line after a final eighth in :12.76.
"I'm super pleased," McCarthy said. "I thought he was in a great spot up the backside. I was very confident in the way Javier was sitting around the turn here. Turning for home, the horse was full of run."
The second choice, Rushie paid $7.80 and anchored a $146 exacta ($2) with longshot Sonneman second. It was a half-length back to Tap It to Win.
Rushie was bred in Florida by the O’Farrell family’s Ocala Stud and is from the first crop of Liam’s Map—currently fourth on the leading second-crop sires list—out of Conquest Angel, by Colonel John. Ocala Stud generally sells its horses as 2-year-olds. West Bloodstock paid $70,000 for Rushie at the 2019 Ocala Breeders’ Sales March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. He's the first foal out of the unraced Conquest Angel, a half sister to Darley Alcibiades Stakes (G1) winner Peace and War (War Front ).
Rushie has a 3-1-2 mark from seven starts, and the $303,800 top prize boosted his earnings to $493,151.
McCarthy was noncommittal on a next start when prompted about the Oct. 3 Preakness Stakes (G1).
"We'll think about the Preakness—or maybe we won't think about the Preakness," he said. "We’ll just enjoy this for right now."