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Giant Gizmo wins Alysheba; Chelokee suffers condylar fracture Stronach Stables' homebred GIANT GIZMO (Giant's Causeway) raced wide throughout Friday's $166,050 Alysheba S. (G3) at Churchill Downs, grabbed the lead in the stretch and pulled off to score a 3 3/4-length victory as the 5-1 third choice. With Rafael Bejarano aboard, the Bobby Frankel-trained four-year-old ran 1 1/16 miles on the sloppy, sealed dirt in 1:43 4/5 to earn his first stakes victory. The Alysheba was marred when Chelokee (Cherokee Run) under Ramon Dominguez took a bad step at the head of the stretch and suffered a condylar fracture of his right front leg. According to Dr. Larry Bramlage, a splint was placed on the Michael Matz-trained four-year-old's leg and he was taken by ambulance to Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. "He appears, on first exam, to have a (right front) condylar fracture that then affected the stability of his ankle," Bramlage explained. "That's amazingly very similar to what (fellow Matz trainee) Barbaro had, only in another leg." Dominguez, who was unseated from Chelokee, was examined and cleared to return to the jockeys' quarters. "He was traveling absolutely perfect," said Dominguez, obviously upset. "I had the best horse in the race. I was just trying to pick my spot and as soon as he got to the top of the lane, he switched to his right lead and broke down." Giant Gizmo came out four wide on the first turn and six wide into the stretch, but still prevailed to pay $12.60, $6.40 and $4 to his loyal backers. Better Than Bonds (Sweetsouthernsaint) moved to the front when the doors opened, setting splits of :23 2/5, :47 2/5 and 1:11 4/5, but couldn't keep up with the winner late and was forced to settle for second. He held 9-5 favorite Wanderin Boy (Seeking the Gold) to third by a neck and gave back $10 and $5.20 at 11-1 while show was worth $3.20. The exotics returned $116.20 (exacta), $379.20 (trifecta) and $1,775 (5-1-2-4 superfecta). Prom Shoes (Include) was another length back in fourth, then came Magna Graduate (Honor Grades) and Jonesboro (Sefapiano). Bred in Kentucky, Giant Gizmo made his stakes debut in the Strub S. (G2) in early February, running sixth that day, then captured an allowance/optional claimer last out by 1 1/4 lengths. Shipping into Churchill for this one, the chestnut boosted his earnings to $268,685 and improved his line to 10-5-1-1 with this win. Giant Gizmo is the first registered foal out of multiple stakes heroine Golden Antigua (Hansel) and has an unraced juvenile half-brother named Slick Pardoned Me (Skip Away), an unnamed yearling half-sister by Golden Missile and an unnamed 2008 half-sister by Ghostzapper.
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