Go Bro Upsets King Edward at 44-1

Well positioned by jockey Jesse Campbell behind a slow early pace, Gustav Schickedanz's homebred Go Bro made a three-wide move and just outfinished grade 1 winner Hootenanny by a head to win the $175,000 King Edward Stakes (G2T) July 2 at Woodbine. 

A two-time winner on Woodbine's synthetic main track, Go Bro last won on grass in July of 2014, when he broke his maiden at seven furlongs on the Woodbine turf. He entered Sunday's race off a second-place finish to graded winner Melmich on the synthetic May 31.

In the one-turn-mile King Edward, the 6-year-old Proud Citizen gelding stalked early leader Shakhimat, who set fractions of :24.07 and :47.07 through a half-mile, with Hootenanny, the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) winner, pressing the pace on the outside in second.

In the turn Go Bro made his move outside the frontrunners and dueled with Hootenanny to the wire to finish off the mile in 1:34.09. Favored Tower of Texas loomed wide with a closing bid but could not make up enough ground late and finished third, a half-length back.

"He broke sharp and I knew we were going slow, so I let him be there. ... It set up very good (for him)," Campbell said. "I say it all time—I'd rather be lucky than good. The race went our way and the horse showed up."

Off at 44-1, Go Bro paid $91.30, $34.20, and $10.20 across the board. Hootenanny brought $8.20 and $4.70, and Tower of Texas—the last-out Connaught Cup (G2T) winner—paid $2.50 to show.

Go Bro delivered trainer Michael Keogh his first graded stakes win since 2007, when he won the Nijinsky Stakes (G2T) with Last Answer.

"He's always had the talent, but we've had so much trouble keeping him sound," Keogh said. "(Schickedanz) finally let me castrate him and he lost all that top-heavy weight, so we're able to keep him sound now."

Bred in Ontario, out of the Langfuhr mare Six Sexy Sisters, Go Bro now has a 4-6-3 record from 20 starts and $338,786 in earnings.