An aptly named runner upset the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Chester and Mary Broman’s New York-bred Bar of Gold, who had never won a graded stakes and came off a sixth-place finish last time out in the Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes on Oct.
An aptly named runner upset the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Chester and Mary Broman’s New York-bred Bar of Gold, who had never won a graded stakes and came off a sixth-place finish last time out in the Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes on Oct. 8 at Keeneland, provided her backers with a rich reward when she upset the race at odds of 66.70-1. The John Kimmel trainee was worth $135.40 for a $2 ticket.
Ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr., Bar of Gold reeled in Ami’s Mesa by a nose after racing far back early on. Even-money favorite Unique Bella set the pace but tired to finish seventh.
It was the first Breeders’ Cup win for Kimmel and the third for Ortiz, who took the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with Lady Eli and won the Filly and Mare Turf with Stephanie’s Kitten the following year.
Bar of Gold, a 5-year-old New York-bred daughter of Medaglia d’Oro , finished seven furlongs in 1:22.63 on a fast track.—Claire Novak-Crosby