Calumet Farm’s homebred Gin Gin has an affinity for Keeneland Race Course that was on full display Oct. 5 when she rolled gate-to-wire to upset the $650,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes, defeating 3-year-old Grade 1 winner Nitrogen by a head in a race where reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna faded to fourth.

The 4-year-old daughter of Hightail last won at Keeneland in April, when she captured the Grade 3 Baird Doubledogdare Stakes by 5 ¼ lengths, her first win in a graded stakes.

While Gin Gin faced a tough task in the Spinster competing not only against seven-time Grade 1 winner Thorpedo Anna but also against five-time graded stakes winner Nitrogen, trainer Brendan Walsh felt the filly had a legitimate shot.

“I think she is a filly that has a certain time of the year when she is blossoming. Some fillies do that. I thought she would run well today,” he said. “Look, when you’re running again fillies like Thorpedo Anna and Nitrogen, you’re probably running for third, but I told (jockey) Luis (Saez) to go out there and be positive with her and try to win the race. Don’t ride for a Grade 1 placing.”

Saez embraced those marching orders. He took Gin Gin immediately to the lead and carved out early fractions of :23.74, :46.69, and 1:10.40 with Thorpedo Anna at her flank down the backstretch. Nitrogen, racing three wide throughout, began her serious challenge as the field rounded the second turn. Gin Gin held Nitrogen off to win by a head. Juddmonte Farms’ Scylla finished third. The final time was 1:49.77.

“It was a pretty fast :46 (seconds) but I still had horse, and she dug in and fought to the end,” Saez said. “When Nitrogen came to her, she never let her by.”

Walsh said Gin Gin’s tenacity in the stretch is a tribute to the toughness she’s shown throughout her career.

“You love the horses that are tough like that, and she didn’t deserve to get passed,” he said. “She dug in and just ran huge.”

The Spinster Stakes is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff Nov. 1 at Del Mar, giving Gin Gin an automatic berth, all-expense paid entry. Walsh said the filly is likely to make the trip to Del Mar for this year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

Trainer Mark Casse said he was disappointed to see Nitrogen get caught wide in both turns only to lose by a head but he loved her performance.”

A happy Luis Saez. (Coady Media)

“She showed me what I needed to see. She wants a target and the pace was not fast enough,” he said. “If she’s OK, we’re thinking the Breeders’ Cup, but I’ll have to talk to the Greens (owners Leonard and Jon Green).”

Kenny McPeek, the trainer of Thorpedo Anna, said he could not answer yet why his champion flattened at the top of the stretch to finish fourth. Later on a video posted on X, he speculated she might have an electrolyte imbalance and that blood work would provide a clearer picture.

“It is a humbling business,” McPeek said after the race. “None of this is a given. They are fragile in the sense that they have bad days and she has given us so many good days. Today was not a good day. We’ll go over and see what it’s about. An old guy told me years ago, ‘Win like you’re used to it and lose like you like it.’ We will lose as gracefully as we’ve won.”

Thorpedo Anna did not have her regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr., who was sidelined due to injuries from a fall Sept. 21. Flavien Prat had the call in the Spinster and said the filly was very nice and relaxed before the race.

“I thought I was in a good spot going into the first turn. Even on the backside, I thought I was driving all right,” he said. “When we got to the half-mile pole, that was it. I was in deep water. She came back good. We move on to the next.”

Final Score Runs Away With Bourbon Stakes

Final Score impresses in Bourbon. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Final Score, a speedy son of Not This Time, added to his sire’s hot streak when he took the $400,000 Castle & Key Bourbon Stakes by 1 ¼ lengths in the Oct. 5 Keeneland finale, earning an automatic fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Oct. 31 at Del Mar.

Sent off as the 1.41-1 favorite, the colt owned by Repole Stable broke sharply and stayed on or near the lead throughout the 1 1/16-mile race.

“He (Final Score) showed speed before, but not this kind of speed,” winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. said. “I thought it was a little more speed than he would have in the race. I thought we were going to be right behind the speed, but he broke so good and put me in a good position without asking too much. I had talked to the trainer (Todd Pletcher) and he said, ‘If he’s on the lead, fine; let him go.’“

Final Score took the field through the opening quarter mile in :22.51 before briefly being headed by a longshot rival as they reached the half in :47.69, with two others adding to the pressure. Final Score ultimately drew clear in mid-stretch and held off runner-up Turf Star, with Gordon Pass another 1 ¼ lengths back in third. Final finished with a final time of 1:42.51 over a firm turf course.

Final Score entered off a 4 ½-length victory in the Grade 3 With Anticipation Stakes Aug. 28 at Saratoga Race Course. Stallion Not This Time was also represented by stakes winners Rhetorical, Imaginationthelady, and Schwarzeneggar during Keeneland’s Fall Stars opening weekend.–Olivia Newman