Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati Spiral S.

Oscar Nominated isn’t nominated to the Triple Crown, but he’s headed to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands after his upset win in the $500,000 Horseshoe Cincinnati Casino Spiral Stakes on Saturday at Turfway Park.

The 3-year-old Kentucky-bred colt by Kitten’s Joy out of the Theatrical mare Divine Actress was claimed for $75,000 by Ken and Sarah Ramsey last fall and sent to the barn of Mike Maker.

“I may offer somebody half the [winner’s share of the Kentucky Derby] purse if they put up the supplement," Ken Ramsey said of the $200,000 payment it will require to supplement Oscar Nominated to the Louisville classic. “He’ll get in the Derby.”

The Spiral winner earned 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, punching his ticket to Louisville.

The Spiral was run on a bizarre weather day in Northern Kentucky with occasional rain showers, dropping temperatures and potent wind gusts that forced an evacuation of the large Spiral party tent adjacent the grandstand up the stretch. The conditions, however, didn’t have much impact on the races.

Ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr. for Robby Albarado, who took off his mounts at Turfway, Oscar Nominated was a wide sixth through the first half-mile of the 1 1/8-mile Spiral as Azar and Ralis traded places on the front end through quarter-mile fractions of :23.22 and :48.23. Oscar Nominated made a bid on the far turn that took him to within a head of Azar at the top of the stretch, and then inched past to win by a neck.

“Looking at him on paper it looked like he really fit with this bunch and we had a lot of confidence in him because he handled the Polytrack so well and he traveled under me the whole way really well,” Hernandez said. “He handled the mile and an eighth really well today.”

Azar held well for second, a neck ahead of John Battaglia Memorial Stakes winner Surgical Strike, who rallied from 11th early in the 12-horse field. Two Step Time finished fourth and Ralis fifth in a blanket finish.

Oscar Nominated, who in his previous start won the Black Gold Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf at Fair Grounds Race, finished the Spiral in 1:51.12 for 1 1/8 miles. He paid $49.20 to win.

Airoforce, the 2.20-1 favorite, was well-placed early but then lacked room entering the far turn. When he found clearance, he didn’t run on and finished eighth.

Oscar Nominated was bred by Mrs. Jerry Amerman and raced for Amerman Racing his first three starts last year in New York under the care of trainer Bill Mott. He finished fourth in a pair of maiden special weight races on the grass before he was dropped in for the $75,000 tag.

“He’s a Kitten’s Joy,” Maker said of the reason for the claim. “They get better as they go longer.”

“We claimed him from a good outfit that’s hard to improve on,” Ramsey said after winning the Spiral for the third time. “But he won a Grade 3 today, and that helps me promote my stallion, Kitten’s Joy.

“We love this horse, and I bet him pretty good today. He was showing a lot in his training, and Kitten’s Joy’s love Polytrack. I thought he had a shot big shot.”

Oscar Nominated thus far has raced only on grass and synthetic surfaces.

The Ramsey’s other two Spiral winners were Dean’s Kitten in 2010, when it was a Grade 2 event called the Lane’s End Stakes, and We Miss Artie in 2014. Dean’s Kitten finished 14th and We Miss Artie 10th in the Kentucky Derby.

“We didn’t nominate this one, but we should have,” Ramsey said of Oscar Nominated. “He’s really coming around at the right time. He won today. Maybe he got a good tail wind.”

For an Equibase chart, click here.