Road to Victory Determined in Golden Rod Score

Mark Casse sent Road to Victory down from Woodbine to find out if she was a quality dirt horse after she broke her maiden at first asking Oct. 1 over the Toronto turf, and the 2-year-old filly answered that question with an emphatic performance Nov. 25 in the $200,000 Golden Rod Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs.

Taking it to 4-5 favorite Monomoy Girl from the start of the 1 1/16-mile affair, John Oxley and Gary Barber's daughter of Quality Road  hounded her highly regarded rival all the way around under Julien Leparoux. The two separated from the rest of the 12-horse field early on, as Brad Cox-trained Monomoy Girl and Florent Geroux set opening fractions of :23.81 and :46.87, with Road to Victory just a half-length behind on the outside.

Six lengths clear of the rest through three quarters in 1:11.11, Monomoy Girl and Road to Victory made it a two-horse race off the turn for home, when Monomoy Girl appeared to give the eventual winner the slip. The frontrunner opened up a brief advantage, but Road to Victory dug deep through a 1:36.59 mile, and surged back to claim the win by a neck.

The final time was 1:43.36 on a fast track. 

"We were sitting in the right spot, laying second," Leparoux said. "In the stretch, (Monomoy Girl) kind of got away from us, but my horse came back."

The Golden Rod is a qualifying race on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, and awards the top four finishers with points toward the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) on a 10-4-2-1 scale.

"Dad sent her down here to me to figure out if she was a quality dirt horse, and she really never had a bad day since she got down here," assistant trainer Norman Casse said. "We had a lot of confidence going into today.

"When we were talking in the paddock, we knew Florent was going to go. He was obviously the horse to beat. We said, 'Ideally, we'll break sharp and sit right behind her and get outside her,' and that's exactly what happened and was probably the best way that we had a chance at winning the race. Everything was executed the way that it needed to be.

"Brad's filly is obviously very talented. I think both these horses are going to be here Kentucky Oaks day. But I know I can speak for our filly. She is very tough and tenacious. Even though the other filly put her head in front of us, I knew she was still going to try."

Road to Victory was sent off at odds of 7-1 and returned $16.40, $6.80, and $6.80. Monomoy Girl brought $2.80 and $2.40, and 16-1 shot Cash Out paid $8.40 when she picked up the pieces for third. The order of finish was completed by Dessert Honeys, Ipanema Beach, Sultry, Stronger Than Ever, Foxtrot Sally, Caroline the Great, Kelly's Humor, Undivided, and Deadline.

Bred in Kentucky by George Bolton and David DiPietro out of the unraced Tiznow mare Favoritism, Road to Victory was a $500,000 purchase by agent Justin Casse from de Meric Sales' consignment to the Ocala Breeders' Sales April 2017 spring sale of 2-year-olds in training. She also went through the Keeneland September sale as a yearling, where she was consigned by Lane's End and sold for $25,000 to Secure Investments.

"I'm sure she'll go down and winter in Florida and we'll pick out a few spots down there," Casse said. "We know she loves it here and we have a lot to look forward to."