Always a Runner wins Kentucky Oaks in just her third career start
· Yahoo Sports
May 1 (UPI) -- Always a Runner was quite the runner when she needed to be in Friday's $1.5 million Grade I Kentucky Oaks, charging down the stretch to win America's biggest race for 3-year-old fillies in just her third career start.
Visit somethingsdifferent.biz for more information.
The Gun Runner filly let Explora and a squadron of rivals set a brisk early pace in the 1 1/8-mile Oaks as jockey Jose Ortiz bided his time.
Santa Anita Oaks winner Meaning seized the lead in the stretch run, but by that time, Ortiz had the pedal to the metal on Always a Runner and found little resistance as she swept by.
Meaning held second, with Grade II Fantasy Stakes winner Counting Stars third and Explora fourth.
"She's amazing," said Ortiz, who won his fifth race of the day. "She ran very good races her first two times out and [trainer] Chad [Brown] was very confident on her. He knew what he had.
Always a Runner, ridden by Jose Ortiz, wins the Kentucky Oaks ahead of Meaning (5) and Explora (1) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Friday, Photo by Mark Abraham/UPI"He told me, just go out there and get to know her in the works and you gonna feel like a sports car, like she's a Ferrari. He was right. I loved the way she worked. And here we are," Ortiz said..
Brown echoed the sentiment, noting the filly missed her entire 2-year-old season after contracting pneumonia.
"She's just an unbelievable horse. What an unbelievable talent. She's been a star since day one. She was in a clinic with fluid in her lungs. A wonderful team of veterinarians got her back to me. This filly is very resilient, very tough, as you saw today," Brown said.
"Only two starts to do this."
Always a Runner did not get to run until Feb. 6, when she ran away with a two-turn maiden race at Tampa Bay Downs. Needing credentials in a hurry to earn her way into the Kentucky Oaks, Brown sent the filly immediately to the Grade III Gazelle at Aqueduct, where she came from off the pace to win by 1 1/4 lengths.
She was bred by Three Chimneys Farm near Lexington, Ky., which owns her in partnership with Douglas Scharbauer, who bought her for $1.05 million at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Her dam, Always Carina, is by Malibu Moon.
Churchill Downs pushed the Oaks back to an 8:40 p.m. EDT post time and ran the race under lights for the first time, looking for increased Friday evening television exposure and increased wagering.