Always a Runner, with Jose Ortiz in the saddle, drew clear late to win the Kentucky Oaks by 1 ¼ lengths May 1 at Churchill Downs. (Eclipse Sportswire)
For the connections who know her best, when Always a Runner moved into position for the stretch run of the $1.5 million Longines Kentucky Oaks May 1 at Churchill Downs, there could only be one possible outcome for a filly who always finds a way.
Always a Runner and red-hot jockey Jose Ortiz launched a five-wide rally in the stretch to pass a pair of Southern California-based runners in early leader Explora and then a game Santa Anita Oaks Presented by Surfside winner Meaning to post a 1 ¼-length victory in the 1 1/8-mile test for 3-year-old fillies.
This year, Churchill Downs broke tradition by moving the Kentucky Oaks under the lights, with an 8:40 p.m. start time aimed at capturing a broader national audience through prime-time coverage from television partner NBC and Peacock streaming.
Always a Runner’s clear win proved a triumph for trainer Chad Brown, who thread the needle after health issues cost Always a Runner her 2-year-old season by preparing her for the Kentucky Oaks win off just a pair of starts: a maiden win in February at Tampa Bay Downs and a victory in the Gazelle Stakes in March at Aqueduct.
“Gonçalo Borges Torrealba has always wanted to win the Kentucky Oaks,” said Three Chimneys vice chairman Doug Cauthen of the Three Chimneys owner. “The Oaks was the most important race for him. So to win this is amazing for Gonçalo and for the whole Torrealba family.”
For Scharbauer the victory provided another pinnacle in his family’s accomplished racing history. His grandfather on his mother’s side, Fred W. Turner Jr., won the 1959 Kentucky Derby with Tomy Lee. And then 28 years later his mother, Dorothy Scharbauer, and her daughter Pamela Scharbauer, campaigned Alysheba to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.
In 2017 Douglas Scharbauer purchased Valor Farm near Pilot Point, Texas, from the estate of his late parents Clarence and Dorothy.
“I don’t have any doubt that both of them were certainly watching this from above,” Scharbauer said. “After she hit the finish line, I’m sure both of my parents were smiling. They loved horse racing.”
Something close to divine intervention may have played a part in Always a Runner pulling through a health scare at 2 when pneumonia sent her to Bruce Jackson’s Fair Hill Equine Therapy Center in Maryland and veterinarian Rodney Belgrave of Mid Atlantic Equine.
“When horses have serious setbacks like that, you just have to take things as they come, day to day, week to week, month to month, and see how they come out of it,” said trainer Chad Brown. “Although she had a good prognosis, you don’t know until you start putting them back in training and observing if there’s any permanent changes.”
Instead of receiving training updates on a filly who showed enough potential to sell for $1,050,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale – and enough for Three Chimneys to get back in on her as an owner – the connections were receiving updates on her health.
“It was tough. Chad was very concerned, like very concerned,” Cauthen said. “I could tell in his voice that this was tough.”
Upon her return, it would fall on Brown to see where Always a Runner stood in terms of racing. As she progressed in her training this year, he selected a maiden race at Tampa Bay Downs for her debut because at one-mile and 40 yards it offered a chance to get two turns under her belt and better position her for big races. Maybe the Oaks? It was a longshot even after the debut win.
Then the decision to go to the Gazelle, which she would win by 2 ¼ lengths, would come down to the final workouts ahead of that race.
“Chad really did read this perfectly,” Cauthen said.
Winning connections. (Eclipse Sportswire)
Brown said the decision-making is a challenge because you want to give talented young horses a chance to shine but you don’t want to take on too much of a hurdle and risk setting them back.
“I put stuff in front of her that I thought she could do, and we try to find that balance running 3-year-olds early in the season, going for Triple Crown races, or the Oaks or whatever,” Brown said. “You try to get the horses here the best you can in position to win, but you don’t want to jeopardize the rest of their season.”
With just enough preparation, it was just a matter of waiting for the start of the first Kentucky Oaks under the lights. Ortiz noted it was a long day, but it would soon prove worth the wait after about two minutes after the 8:43 p.m. ET start time.
Always a Runner raced eighth early in the field of 13 early. She raced comfortably while fillies crowded around her as Explora led through a half-mile in :46.85 and six furlongs in 1:10.78. Always a Runner then launched her rally in the far turn.
“She felt really good throughout,” said Ortiz, who secured his fifth win on the Oaks day card.
“We were there every step of the way, shook loose at the top of the lane, and held for second. Kudos to Chad. I thought the winner really came running.
“These things happen,” added McCarthy, who sent out Journalism to a runner-up finish in last year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve. “We’re used to it.”
Always a Runner, the third betting choice but one of three runners off at between 5-1 and 6-1, completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.82 on a fast track to win her Grade 1 debut.
