Fight On, Sultry Take Spendthrift Stallion Stakes

Fight On lived up to his name as the 2-year-old son of Into Mischief  prevailed in a five-horse photo to win the second running of the $200,000 Spendthrift Juvenile Stallion Stakes Churchill Downs Oct. 29.

B. Wayne Hughes, the owner of Fight On and Lexington-based Spendthrift Farm and the driving force behind the lucrative race exclusively for 2-year-old offspring sired by any active or non-active Spendthrift stallion, including all Spendthrift-owned stallions standing regionally in North America, presented the trophy to himself.

Ricardo Santana Jr., fresh off his first Keeneland riding title, rode the winner for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

"We are very surprised we won this race but we have a great trainer and jockey that helped us get there today," Hughes said. 

Fight On broke alertly and raced just off the right hip of pacesetter and 4-5 favorite Ezmosh, who led the field of eight juveniles through early fractions of :23.12 and :46.74 for a half-mile.

Fight On took the lead while exiting the turn and inched clear in a long stretch drive to hold off Captivating Moon by a head. Dream Baby Dream was another neck back in third, O'Malley's March was another head back in fourth, and John Tippmann was another nose back in fifth. Ezmosh was sixth, followed by El Rubio and Just Be Frank. The final time was 1:24.87.

"We got a perfect trip today and when the horses got to him in deep stretch he fought hard to get the win," Santana Jr. said.

Fight On collected his first career win in his fourth start and increased his earnings to $80,340. He returned $12.20, $4.80 and $4.40 across the board.

"He's improved in every start and got a great trip today," Asmussen said.

Fight On, out of the Elusive Quality mare Havenlass, was bred in Kentucky by Haymarket Farm, who were awarded $40,000 for the win.

Designed to benefit both racehorse owners and breeders, the $200,000 purse was structured with an award of $100,000 to the breeders of the top four placed horses, with the remaining $100,000 allocated to the owners. 

"The concept for these races incentivizes the breeders and people who buy our horses, and we are very happy to be able to win this," Hughes said. 

Two races later, Joseph W. Sutton's Sultry made a strong move on the turn along the inside rail under jockey Corey Lanerie and collared heavy favorite Mia Mischief inside the final sixteenth to win the first running of the $200,000 Spendthrift Farm Juvenile Filly Stallion Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths.

Sultry, a daughter of Malibu Moon  trained by Eddie Kenneally, collected her first stakes win and third victory in five career starts. 

On Sunday, she clocked seven furlongs in 1:24.51 over a fast track, which was .36 faster than Fight On's triumph in the Juvenile division. 

Mia Mischief led most of the way in :22.24, :45.65 and 1:11.29 through six furlongs, with Sultry unhurried early and well back of the leader. 

"Her running style is to come from behind so even though speed has been holding today we didn't want to change too much except get her into the race earlier," Lanerie said. "We had a perfect trip up the rail and with the early fractions the field came back to us a bit which helped. Eddie and his team have done a phenomenal job training her and she was ready to run today."

Sultry, a Kentucky-bred out of the Giant's Causeway  mare Viva Carina, banked $60,140 for her owner and another $40,000 to breeder Three Chimneys Farm. She improved her earnings to $126,606.

Sultry paid $10.60, $3.20 and $2.20 across the board.

In the 8th race on the card, Monomoy Girl, perfect in two starts on turf, led every step of the way in her dirt debut Sunday to easily beat Queen Mum by 6 1/2 lengths in the Rags to Riches Stakes.

Ridden by Florent Geroux and trained by Brad Cox, the daughter of Tapizar  broke alertly from post No. 6 in the field of 10 2-year-old fillies and led at every call before stopping the clock in 1:36.29 for the one-mile race. 

In the 10th race, Robert Lothenbach's Gotta Go rallied from off the pace to beat Lone Sailor by a head after a thrilling stretch battle in the Street Sense Stakes.

The victory by Gotta Go gave trainer Ian Wilkes his second straight victory in the race. Last fall, multiple graded stakes winner McCraken won by 3 3/4 lengths before jumping into graded stakes company.

Ridden by Wilkes' son-in-law Chris Landeros, the Shanghai Bobby  colt clocked one mile in 1:37.48.