Spendthrift Farm’s Tommy Jo improved to 3-for-3 in capturing the $650,000 Darley Alcibiades Stakes on opening day of the fall meet Oct. 3 at Keeneland Race Course, though only after a five-minute stewards’ inquiry and the disqualification of the first-across-the-wire finisher, Percy’s Bar.

The six-horse race for 2-year-old fillies essentially proved to be a two-horse contest from start to finish between Percy’s Bar, the distant runner-up to Tommy Jo in the Aug. 30 Spinaway Stakes, and Tommy Jo, the 0.44-1 favorite. The rail-drawn Percy’s Bar, in a change of style from her three sprint races, shot to the front under Luan Machado, with Tommy Jo in pursuit.

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The two remained this way from start to finish, with Tommy Jo dialing up the pressure on Percy’s Bar, only for the latter to gradually inch clear again. As the duo raced just inside the final furlong of the 1 1/16-mile race, Percy’s Bar ducked out under left-handed urging from Machado, fouling Tommy Jo and Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who had trailed by about a length. Tommy Jo then swapped back to her left lead and sputtered, fading to finish 2 ¾ lengths behind Percy’s Bar.

Velazquez told stewards in a customary telephone conversation during the inquiry that Percy’s Bar “hit my horse sideways,” and opened up “a length and a half” on him, and that he needed to ask his filly to re-engage. He added to the stewards that he informed an outrider he wished to claim foul multiple times when galloping out, though that claim of foul was not announced until after his discussion with the stewards.

Machado expressed disappointment with the disqualification, feeling he was aboard the best horse. “I don’t think it’s fair, but it’s how it is, I guess,” he said.

Percy’s Bar – who races for Hat Creek Racing, an ownership group headed by Keeneland vice president of racing Gatewood Bell – was demoted to second. She set fractions of :23.13, :46.90, 1:11.52, 1:37.47 on her way to a final time in 1:44.69.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher acknowledged Tommy Jo’s performance Friday was not at the same level as her two earlier starts at Saratoga, where she blitzed maidens when racing 6 furlongs by 3 ¾ lengths and rolled by 6 ½ lengths in the seven-furlong Spinaway. He maintains faith in Tommy Jo as a router based on numerous factors, including her training.

“She had two good races in Saratoga. She shipped into Keeneland against some horses that are based here, training here, and (Tommy Jo’s) first time around two turns,” Pletcher said. “So I’m hoping that that builds her up for the next one.”

The “next one” is the Oct. 31, $1 million NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar, a race for which Tommy Jo has a paid, automatic berth. Both the Spinaway and Aclibiades are part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: “Win and You’re In,” providing guaranteed entry into the Juvenile Fillies.

Imaginationthelady Impresses in Jessamine Stakes

Imaginationthelady and Dettori finish strong. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Trainer Brendan Walsh said Imaginationthelady’s victory in the $400,000 Jessamine Stakes Presented by Keeneland Sales earlier on the Oct. 3 card at Keeneland came with a double bonus – a “Win and You’re In” ticket to the John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series and no pressure from the owner to accept the bid.

But he said he sees no reason why the Not This Time filly won’t show up in the big race at Del Mar Oct. 31.

Imaginationthelady was making just her second start in the Jessamine, following a front-running, 1 ½-length victory in a valuable maiden affair at Kentucky Downs. Walsh said, as a youngster still learning her business, the filly benefitted from a sharp ride by Frankie Dettori.

Sitting behind the early speed, “there were a lot of fillies moving outside of him,” Walsh said. “It’s natural to want to go with them but Frankie waited and it paid off.”

Moving smoothly through the final sixteenth, Imaginationthelady finished one length to the good of runner-up Infinite Sky, a Godolphin homebred also by Not This Time and who also broke her maiden at Kentucky Downs in her last start.

Time to Dream completed the trifecta for sire Not This Time. The only starter who did not make her last start at Kentucky Downs, she entered the Jessamine undefeated with impressive victories in two starts at Saratoga.

“Brendan was very confident going into the race,” Dettori said. “She’s a big filly with a long stride and I was able to get her to relax. She can do whatever. She improved and we thought she would.”

Walsh said owner Mark Dobbin is “based in New York but he has a lot of horses in Ireland. He’s been great with me. There was no pressure before the Kentucky Downs race and there was no pressure to bring her here after she won that.”

Now?

“There’s still no pressure for the Breeders’ Cup. But if everything looks good, I see no reason we wouldn’t be there. She’s become a very good 2-year-old and she’ll turn into a very good 3-year-old,” he said.– Bob Kieckhefer

Third Time’s the Charm for Nakatomi in Phoenix Stakes

Nakatomi gets it done. (Coady Media)

With a new stakes winner’s circle at Keeneland to welcome him, a third try at the $390,125 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes proved the charm for Nakatomi.

After longshot Durante opened a clear lead in midstretch in the six-furlong test for 3-year-olds and older, Nakatomi found his best stride late, mustering a last-to-first rally and edging that foe by a neck at the finish. The 6-year-old gelding secured the third stakes win of his career, his seventh overall, and boosted his earnings to over $1.97 million.

The winning effort followed runner-up finishes by Nakatomi in the 2024 and 2023 editions of the Phoenix.

“I’ll tell you, this is a race that I’ve been coveting for a long, long time,” said trainer Wesley Ward, who is based at Keeneland. “It’s a sprint race, which predominantly, has been the focus of the majority of my career. We’ve been trying to get it done and to have it, to finally have it, it’s just gratifying.”

Ward was speaking from the new stakes winner’s circle at Keeneland, which is beside the paddock and had once been used as the “rider’s up” area. Nakatomi was the first horse to use the new winner’s circle.

The Phoenix is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: “Win and You’re In” race, offering a fees-paid berth in the $2 million Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint Nov. 1 at Del Mar, also held at six furlongs.

“Going over there to Del Mar with that short stretch that they have, it’s going to take a quick early pace up front, and he’ll have to come running. So everything will have to fall our way,” Ward said. “But the horse is feeling good and is doing well. With an older, seasoned, sound horse like him; hopefully we get lucky.”–Frank Angst