Race Day in Slight Hagyard Fayette Upset

Matthew Schera's Race Day   moved between horses leaving the second turn and continued his momentum to win the Hagyard Fayette Stakes (gr. II) in track-record time on the Oct. 30 Breeders' Cup card at Keeneland.



Ridden by John Velazquez for trainer Todd Pletcher, the 4-year-old Tapit   colt was settled into third early and tracked the pace of Encryption and Pletcher-trained Commissioner through fractions of :23.57, :47.15, and 1:11.41 through the first three-quarters of a mile.



After taking over Race Day drew off to a comfortable lead before a furious charge from 2-1 favorite Hoppertunity came up short.



The final time for 1 1/8 miles over a fast track was 1:47.90, lowering the track standard of 1:48.79 established by Protonico in his victory in the Ben Ali Stakes (gr. III) earlier this year.



The winner paid $10.60, $5.20 and $4.40, with Hoppertunity worth $3.60 and $2.80. Encryption held third to pay $6.80 to show. Commissioner finished fourth, followed by Protonico.



The victory, sixth in 11 starts for Race Day, increased the winner's earnings to $733,450. Race Day earlier this year had back-to-back stakes victories in the Razorback (gr. III) and Oaklawn (gr. II) handicaps at Oaklawn Park.

Previous to the Fayette, Race Day was sixth and ninth, respectively, in the Salvator Mile (gr. III) at Monmouth Park and Forego (gr. I) at Saratoga Racecourse.



"He came running," Velazquez said. "I grabbed him a little on the backstretch and sat (in behind) on the turn and then pulled out at the quarter pole and he responded the right way. We can't even imagine why he ran those two bad races because he's done so well (other than that). This (race is) what he wants to do."



"He ran great," Espinoza said of Hoppertunity. "I wish he would have gone just a little farther, but he ran a good race."



"I wanted to put my horse second but he felt so good he wanted to go," said Paco Lopez, who rode Encryption. "So I let him. I let him go too soon. He ran pretty well."



"He ran a good race," Javier Castellano said of Commissioner. "I think the race went pretty quick, but the track is fast. I think he's the kind of horse who needs a little more distance, a mile and a quarter, a steady run. I think that's the key for this horse. I knew somebody was going to come because my horse was slowing down. But the 3 (Race Day) was very surprising what he did, very impressive."



Bred in Kentucky by James Miller, Race Day had two wins in four starts for WinStar Farm before being purchased by Ghost Bloodstock for $285,000 at last year's Keeneland November breeding stock sale.