Double Crown Lights Up Tote Board With 42-1 Kelso Upset
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Photo: Coglianese Photos
Double Crown rallies past Baby Yoda to win the Kelso Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack
In addition to being a Thoroughbred owner and trainer, Norman "Lynn" Cash builds and repairs homes, specializing in roofing. "Not a shingle mistake," is the motto of his company, Built Wright Homes.
His 5-year-old gelding Double Crown , who he owns with Lola Cash, also was mistake-free Oct. 29, running down heavily favored Baby Yoda to post a 42-1 upset in the $300,000 Kelso Handicap (G2) at the Belmont at the Big A meet at Aqueduct Racetrack.
"It's a first graded stakes win for the boss, Mr. Cash, who is a great guy to work for," said assistant trainer Jay Libertini. "He had a death in the family, so he couldn't be here. We all love Mr. Cash and his family, and we're excited for him."
Though Double Crown surprised bettors with his fifth-to-first rally, in which he defeated Baby Yoda by 1 3/4 lengths, the victory wasn't entirely out of the blue. He won the Carry Back Stakes and Roar Stakes as a 3-year-old in 2020, when he was also graded placed, and this year, since being claimed for $40,000 by Cash at Churchill Downs in June, had recorded one win in seven pre-Kelso starts and managed a stakes placing. Still, he had been just 2-for-17 in 2021-22 coming into the race.
The Bourbon Courage gelding put it all together Saturday, running a mile on a fast track in 1:37.16 under J. D. Acosta, successfully rallying from behind slow splits of :24.32 and :48.60 set by Empty Tomb .
Baby Yoda, who pressed the pace three wide under Javier Castellano before taking command coming into the lane, appeared to fatigue late. He finished 8 1/4 lengths in front of Shackqueenking in third. Empty Tomb faded to fourth.
"I saw Javier stay wide and he had the best horse," Acosta said. "So, when he made the move, I was able to follow him down the stretch and then put him on the outside. I felt like I had plenty of horse and I thought I was going to win.
"At the eighth pole, I thought I was going to get it. I looked back, and I was hoping no one else was going to catch us, and when I asked my horse, he took off, and he was strong."
Bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman and Rebecca Davis, Double Crown ($86.50) is the lone stakes winner out of the five-time winning Two Punch mare Two Columbus . The dam has produced seven foals, with five starters from six of racing age and three winners. Her youngest foal is a yearling colt by Madefromlucky .
Video: Kelso H. (G2)
Runninsonofagun Grittily Outfinishes Eastern Bay in Bold Ruler
Later on the Aqueduct card, Norman Cash nearly added a second graded stakes win but his closer Eastern Bay was turned back by a game Runninsonofagun in the $200,000 Bold Ruler Stakes (G3).
Eastern Bay looked like a winner rallying down the center of the track and poked a head in front in the closing sixteenth, but Runninsonofagun battled back for a nose victory. The victorious 3-year-old Gun Runner gelding raced six furlongs in 1:10.07 behind splits of :22.50 and :45.77, rallying from 2 1/4 lengths off the pace.
Runninsonofagun, owned by the Estate of Scott Zimmerman and trained by John Toscano Jr., was ridden to victory by Kendrick Carmouche. He paid $7.30 to win as the favorite.
"He made the lead and he kind of waited, and as soon as that horse passed him, I gave him a little bit more, and he laid his head down and went right back at it," Carmouche said.
Runninsonofagun nips Eastern Bay in the Bold Ruler Stakes
The victory provided Toscano with his second graded stakes triumph in nearly four decades of training. His last graded win came with Sinister G, an upset winner of the 2004 Lane's End Stakes (G2) at Turfway Park.
"It's gratifying. We finally got the right race for him and he came through," he said.
Factor It In and Greeley and Ben ran third and fourth, respectively, behind the top two in the Bold Ruler.
Out of the stakes-placed Malibu Moon mare Golden Artemis , Runninsonofagun is one of three black-type horses from six starters and 12 foals produced from his dam. The two other black-type runners are the stakes-placed Saharan (Desert Party ) and grade 1 winner My Conquestadory (Artie Schiller ).
The dam's youngest foals are a yearling filly by Street Sense and a Curlin colt born this year.
Runninsonofagun was a $16,000 purchase by Big Plains Consulting in 2021 from the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale from the Denali Stud consignment.
He earned his first stakes win with Saturday's victory after picking up four graded placings over the summer, including once in grade 1 company. He is 4-1-5 in 11 starts with earnings of $369,700.