Rosario Rides Rail to Two Kentucky Downs Stakes Wins

Jockey Joel Rosario skimmed the rail to capture two stakes victories Sept. 12 at Kentucky Downs and rode a total of four winners on closing day, wrapping up the meet as the leading jockey.

Rosario guided 6-5 favorite Tobys Heart  to victory in the $487,950 Nelson's Green Brier Whiskey Music City Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies at the all-turf track.

"It was perfect. The horse ran really well there, I was just waiting to see if something would open up for her," Rosario said. "They just decided to stay off the rail, and she just outran them when she was clear.

"I have to thank all the people who gave me the opportunity at Kentucky Downs—the trainers, and owners, who gave me this opportunity. I really feel blessed."

Second to last early in the field of 11, Tobys Heart rallied off of fractions of :21.99 and :44.93, cut the corner entering the stretch, and rolled along the rail to finish in hand. The Jack Milton   daughter won by 2 3/4 lengths, completing the distance on the firm course in 1:14.36. She paid $4.60 on a $2 win ticket. 

Alwayz Late  rallied from last to finish second by a half-length over pace-setting Risky Reward . 

Tobys Heart is campaigned by trainer Brian Lynch, Terry Hamilton, and Gary Barber. The Music City was the third stakes win of her eight-race career, from which she has a 4-1-1 record and earnings of $494,750.

"It was great to get Joel on her (for the first time)," Lynch said. "Definitely horses are running for him at the moment. He rides this course as good as anybody. We're definitely thrilled to have him on board."

The filly was bred in Kentucky by Trackside Farms out of the stakes-winning Lil's Lad mare Pick of the Pack. Her dam has since produced an unraced 2-year-old Commissioner  colt named Principality, a yearling Commissioner filly, and this year delivered an Astern   filly. She was bred back to Jack Milton for 2022.

Tobys Heart first passed through the auction ring as part of Trackside's consignment to the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale, going to Valentine Jimenez for $5,500. Alistair Roden Bloodstock then purchased her for $45,000 from Bold Arrow Thoroughbreds at the 2020 Ocala Breeders' Sales March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

"She's a very shrewd purchase, and she has panned out to be a very nice filly for us," Lynch said. "Hopefully there is more to come with her. She was undefeated as a 2-year-old and she is just starting to wind into a real good 3-year-old campaign."

Video: Nelson's Green Brier Whiskey Music City S. (BT)

Koala Princess Stays Perfect

One race earlier, Rosario used a similar trip to win aboard Koala Princess  in the $436,250 Ainsworth Stakes, run at 6 1/2 furlongs for 2-year-old fillies. 

A homebred for Runnymede Farm, Peter Callahan, and Chris Zinkhan, Koala Princess remained perfect in two starts for trainer Arnaud Delacour. The More Than Ready   daughter won on debut by 8 1/4 lengths Aug. 21 at Monmouth Park. 

"It's good to win races; they're tough to win here," Delacour said. "Everybody shows up with what they think is their best stock at the time. Whoever will handle the track, that is always a question mark. I was very happy with Koala Princess. We were a little worried about the timing. She ran three weeks ago. We had to ship, but obviously she handled everything fine. We had a great ride by Joel; he didn't panic. He just sat there and she came with her run, so it was exciting."

Koala Princess was eighth of 11 through the first four furlongs as Mystic Eyes  showed the way with fractions of :21.87 and :45.54. Koala Princess accelerated along the rail and passed Mystic Eyes to win by 2 1/4 lengths. Poppy Flower  pressed the pace throughout and finished third. 

The final time was 1:15.25, with Koala Princess paying $12.

"She broke fine. There were a couple there that looked like they were in a hurry a little bit," Rosario said. "We got to the turn and found myself in a good spot with the speed they were going. I just tried to stay there for a little while. She was handling everything inside there nice, and so I tried to stay there and look for the clear path."

Koala Princess, an earner of $324,400, was bred in Kentucky and is the second of two foals out of the Lonhro mare Koala Queen, who was reported bred to McKinzie   for 2022.

Video: Ainsworth S. (BT)

Family Way Ekes Out Win

Family Way  took the outside path under jockey Tyler Gaffalione to capture the final stakes of the meet, the $501,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon at 1 5/16 miles. 

It was the first stakes win for Hunter Valley Farm, Debra O'Connor, and Marc Detampel's 4-year-old Uncle Mo   filly, who became the 75th black-type winner for her Ashford Stud sire. Trained by Brendan Walsh, Family Way came in off a third-place finish in the KY Downs TVG Preview Turf Cup Stakes against males Aug. 8 at Ellis Park. 

"She has been a little bit temperamental, but not too bad. It's a tribute to my team that they have done a great job on her because she was a little bit of a project from the get-go," Walsh said. "But we've got her turned around and I think she showed that today. It's great to win this with her because she belongs to a bunch of friends of mine, who bought her last year in France."

Family Way sat off the pace of Blame Debbie , who opened with fractions of :25.48, :50.36, and 1:14.60 before dropping back. Go Big Blue Nation  took over to post a mile in 1:38.78 and led into the stretch with La Lune  closing in. 

Gaffalione had Family Way three wide down the lane and the filly dug in to win by a neck. She completed the distance in 2:07.83 and paid $13.20.

"Very simple race. She broke well. She tracked the leaders and coming down the backside hill I was able to just jump outside and get into the three-path and let my filly find her stride," Gaffalione said. "When I called on her she finished up well.

"I saved most of the ground to maybe about the half-mile pole and then I figured that I had plenty of horse, just give her a clean path."

La Lune nosed Go Big Blue Nation into third to finish second in the 12-horse field. 

Family Way was bred in Kentucky by Diamond Creek Farm and is the first foal out of the Giant's Causeway mare Susie's Baby, a half sister to multiple group 1 winner and sire Caravaggio  . Susie's Baby has two winners from three starters, and her unraced foals are a yearling Justify   filly and a full sister to Family Way born this year. She was bred to Constitution   for 2022.

Godolphin purchased Family Way for $775,000 from Gainesway's consignment to the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. After a season of racing in France, the filly was consigned by Godolphin to the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale, where Hunter Valley's Fergus Galvin, agent, bought her for the equivalent of $181,818.

From 11 career starts, Family Way holds a 4-1-2 record with earnings of $441,543.

"This was going to be our plan at the end of the year. It was always on the cards," Walsh said. "We thought that the distance was maybe going to stretch her a little bit, but she seemed like she got it pretty good. She loved the track here today."

Video: Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon S. (BT)

Meet Ends With Record Handle

Kentucky Downs reported a record all-sources handle of $74,088,532 at this year's six-day meet, up 23.8% from last year's total of $59,828,444.

Rosario captured the leading jockey title with 17 wins during the meet. The trainer's title ended in a three-way tie, with Mike Maker, Steve Asmussen, and Walsh each winning four races. Godolphin was the leading owner of the meet with four wins.