Cellist Gets it Done in Kentucky Cup Classic
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Photo: Coady Photo/Samantha Pagels
Cellist wins the Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes at Turfway Park
Eight days after Rusty Arnold ended a controversial week-long suspension, the trainer rebounded with a resounding score in the $292,000 Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes (G3) March 23 at Turfway Park with the Calumet Farm homebred Cellist .
The 2 3/4-length victory was also the first in nearly two years for the hard-knocking Cellist, who was entering the Classic off a fourth-place effort in the Jan. 27 William L. McKnight Stakes (G3T) at Gulfstream Park. Although Arnold has kept the son of Big Blue Kitten at his South Florida winter base at Palm Meadows Training Center, the gelding had shipped up to Turfway once before this winter, falling a head short of catching Classic favorite Wolfie's Dynaghost in the Dec. 16 Prairie Bayou Stakes.
Luis Saez, aboard Cellist for the first time, kept the gelding in a stalking fourth position as longshot Wentru commanded the field through opening fractions of :23.26 and :48.59. Woodslane Farm's Wolfie's Dynaghost—2-for-2 over the Turfway oval and 5-for-7 racing on a synthetic surface—inherited the lead rounding the final bend but began to fold as his rivals cranked up the pressure turning for home.
Tipping three-wide into the stretch, Cellist devoured his rivals, and kicked home a clear winner over Atone and Funtastic Again . Wolfie's Dyaghost, never a factor in the lane, finished seventh of 11.
"He always tried," Saez said of Cellist. "It was my first time on him but he's a pretty honest horse. I had a lot of horse but I didn't want to make my move too early because this track can be a little funny. But everything worked out pretty well."
The 6-year-old stopped the timer in 1:49.33 for the 1 1/8 miles on the all-weather track. He returned $14.78 for a $2 win ticket.
Arnold had served a suspension March 8-14 when his runner Figgy tested positive for the painkiller tramadol after winning a maiden race at Turfway Park Dec. 27. The multiple grade 1-winning trainer accepted the suspension but argued in a written letter circulated by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association that the positive test was the result of contamination.
Grade 1-placed as a 3-year-old, Cellist registered the third stakes win of his 21-start career and advanced his bankroll to $838,582. He is one of four winners produced from the English Channel mare Cello, a full sister to multiple graded stakes winner Optimizer .
Cellist is the leading earner for Calumet stallion Big Blue Kitten, who stands for a private fee at the Lexington farm. The 2015 champion turf male, Big Blue Kitten has sired the winners of 41 races from only 86 foals of racing age. Cellist is one of his two stakes winners.
Earlier on the card, Dana's Beauty shocked the field at 20-1 to take the $249,200 Latonia Stakes for older fillies and mares. The 6-year-old daughter of Not This Time landed her first stakes victory in front-running fashion by 2 3/4 lengths under jockey Jose Ortiz. She runs under the name of Ortiz's wife, Taylor Ortiz's stable, Magic Oaks. Trained by Joe Sharp, Dana's Beauty ($43.14) raced the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.96.