Shadwell Stable’s Kentucky-bred Malathaat soared past champion Letruska at the head of the lane and drew clear to win the 67th running of the $600,000 Spinster S. (G1) at Keeneland on Sunday, Oct. 9, leading a Kentucky-bred sweep of the track’s four Grade 1 events on the weekend. The victory earned Malathaat a berth in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) on Nov. 5 as the Spinster is a “Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Challenge race.
Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by John Velazquez, Malathaat covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.05. Her victory followed Forte’s win in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1), Annapolis’ win in the Turf Mile (G1), and Wonder Wheel’s victory in the Alcibiades S. (G1).
A Keenland sales graduate, Malathaat is a daughter of Curlin out of the A.P. Indy mare Dreaming of Julia bred in the Bluegrass by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings. The Spinster score marked her fifth Grade 1 triumph, and she remains perfect in three Keeneland starts, having also annexed the 2021 Ashland S. (G1) and the Doubledogdare S. (G3) to open her 2022 season.
“It’s great when you have one in their third of training, and you get to know them pretty well and kind of know what they like. You could tell that this year’s she’s a bigger, stronger version of last year’s self and needed a little more training.”
Bass Racing’s homebred Annapolis posted a 1 ½-length score over his elders in the 37th running of the $1 million Turf Mile (G1) on Oct. 8. Also trained by Pletcher and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., Annapolis covered the mile on turf in a new stakes-record time of 1:33.29 and earned a fees-paid berth into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) to be run over the same course on Nov. 5.
Annapolis is a Kentucky-bred son of War Front out of the Unbridled’s Song mare My Miss Sophia. In registering his first Grade 1 win, Annapolis improved his career record to 7-5-2-0 and increased his bankroll to $1,166,100.
“He is very tactical, he can do anything,” said Irad Ortiz. “The pace today was a little different from last time. I tried to get some position going into the first turn and thank God everything worked out perfect. He gave me a good turn of foot going down the lane.”
DJ Stable’s Wonder Wheel gained the early advantage in the $500,000 Alcibiades S. (G1) on Oct. 7 and then fended off late challenges from Chop Chop and Raging Sea to win the 71st running of the race for 2-year-old fillies. The win earned Wonder Wheel a berth in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) on Nov. 4.
A Keeneland sales graduate, Wonder Wheel is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Into Mischief of the Tiz Wonderful mare Wonder Gal. The win improved her record to 4-3-1-0 and she has now amassed earnings of $510,725. She was bred in the Bluegrass by Three Chimneys Farm and Clearsky Farm and is trained by Mark Casse.
In a thrilling renewal of the Breeders’ Futurity (G1), Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable’s Forte edged favored Loggins by a neck and survived a claim of foul to win the 10th running of the $600,000 event for 2-year-olds. Trained by Pletcher and ridden by Ortiz, Forte covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.74 and earned himself a berth in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) on Nov. 4.
A Keeneland sales graduate Forte is a Kentucky-bred son of Violence out of the Blame mare Queen Caroline. The victory, a second Grade 1 for Forte, improved his overall record to 4-3-0-0 and increased his earnings total to $555,150.
“At the turn, he was still figuring it out,” noted Ortiz. “He’s a young horse, and I had to start working really hard on him. He started doing it little by little, but by the time I got there and hit the lead he started acting a little green and laying in a little bit. I had to take a big hold of him the whole stretch.”