Keystone Field a Game Winner of Claiming Crown Jewel

Keystone Field  swept past early leaders Benevengo  and Frosted Grace  leaving the final turn and determinedly turned back a late charge by 2-1 favorite Intrepid Heart  Nov. 12 to win the $199,875 Claiming Crown Jewel at Churchill Downs.

The most lucrative of eight starter allowance races on the Saturday card for the nation's top claiming horses, the 1 1/8-mile Jewel was for 3-year-olds and up that raced for a claiming price of $35,000 or less in 2021-22. It headlined Saturday's 24th annual Claiming Crown Championship Series, which was staged at Churchill Downs for the first time.

Inaugurated in 1999 at Canterbury Park in Minnesota, the Claiming Crown had been staged for the last decade at Gulfstream Park in south Florida. In its Louisville debut, the Claiming Crown lured blue-collar horses from around the country.

Keystone Field, who won by a half-length, stopped the clock in 1:53.29 over a main dirt track that was rated "sloppy" following more than an inch of early morning precipitation in the Louisville area, which included snow flurries as temperatures dipped into the mid-30s.

"We knew when it came up sloppy that a son of Candy Ride should handle the surface great," said owner Kirk Wycoff of Blue Diamonds Farm.

Gerardo Corrales rode the winner for trainer Mike Maker, who collected his second Claiming Crown win on the day and earned a record-extending 22nd victory in the championship series. Earlier, Maker won the $109,850 Glass Slipper with Paradise Farms Corp.'s Invaluable , ridden by Luis Saez.

"We knew this horse had good turf form but we thought we could improve him getting him on the dirt," Maker said. "He had a great trip today and handled the sloppy track very well."

Keystone Field earned $113,000 for the win and improved his record to 6-2-3 from 21 starts, with earnings of $391,529. He paid $15.78 on a $2 win ticket at odds of 6-1.

"When I bet he was 10-1 and got backed pretty heavily after that," Wycoff said. "I left the (Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale) a few hours ago and it's a great sale, but winning races is better...(Intrepid Heart) ran well on his outside but we ended up getting the jump on him from the inside."

Intrepid Heart finished 7 1/4 lengths in front of Benevengo, who completed the trifecta.

Keystone Field became eligible for the Jewel while winning a Jan. 7 race at Santa Anita Park while running for a $25,000 tag. Previously owned by Perry R. Bass II and Ramona S. Bass and trained by Richard Mandella, he was privately purchased following a fourth-place finish in a $25,000 starter allowance March 19 and came to Kentucky. This marked his third victory in five dirt starts since the purchase.

"I was delighted to see the Claiming Crown come to Churchill," Wycoff said. "We actually purchased this horse from California to run it back on the dirt. That usually isn't what we do, it's usually the other way around (dirt to turf)."

Keystone Field is a 7-year-old gelded son of Candy Ride   out of the In Excess mare She's an Eleven, and was bred in Kentucky by C R K Stables. He sold for $525,000 to agent Steve Young from Paramount Sales' consignment to the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, and made 15 starts for the Bass family before he was obtained by Wycoff.

She's an Eleven has produced six winners from seven starters, with her last reported foal dropped in 2017. Her most notable performer was 2014 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G2) winner Candy Boy, who amassed earnings of $1.2 million. 

Big Day for Van Berg, Lopez, Saez

Also on the Claiming Crown card, trainer Tom Van Berg and jockey Florent Geroux teamed to win their second Claiming Crown race of the day when The Queens Jules  determinedly surged back from the inside rail to hang a nose on Divine Leader  in the $138,755 Rapid Transit. Earlier, Petit Verdot  won the $160,600 Tom Metzen Memorial. Both horses were owned by Van Berg's partnership Grit to Glory Racing. Van Berg also saddled the winner of the first race, an $8,000 claiming event, with Justin's Quest  for three wins on the day.

Paco Lopez rode two winners to extend his Claiming Crown win record to 16. He won the $167,150 Tiara aboard Out of Sorts  for owner John Fanelli and trainer Bobby Mosco, and concluded the program with a triumph aboard FAS Racing (Adis Smajlovic)'s Palace Coup  in the $160,010 Emerald for trainer Joe Sharp, who also trains Intrepid Heart.

Out of Sorts was one of two horses who shipped in from Pennsylvania's Parx Racing to win a Claiming Crown event. The other was Gregg O'Donnell's Hero Tiger  ($10.32) in the $106,899 Ready's Rocket Express for trainer John Kirby and the second Claiming Crown win of the day for Saez.

All other Claiming Crown winners were based in Kentucky, including Jeff A. Hiles and Thorndale Stable's Time for Trouble , who won the $108,433 Iron Horse Kent Stirling Memorial for Hiles and jockey Joe Talamo.

The Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial, Tiara, and Emerald were transferred from turf to dirt because of snowfall.