Further Ado returns to winning form in Matt Winn

Spendthrift Farm’s Further Ado turned the page on a subpar 11th as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and regained his winning form in Sunday’s $489,665 Matt Winn (G3) at Churchill Downs. 

The odds-on choice as the class of the field, the Brad Cox pupil tracked Pavlovian through fractions of :23.69 and :46.69 before asserting. Further Ado was already a length clear at the six-furlong mark in 1:10.62, and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. just had to keep him on task in the lane for a two-length decision.

Louisiana-bred Our Moneyman gave valiant chase in second, outperforming his 14.87-1 odds in his graded debut. There was a 5 1/2-length gap back to Taptastic in third. Derby veteran Potente rounded out the superfecta. Next came Corona de Oro, Stop the Car, Pavlovian, and Steel Imperium.

Further Ado polished off 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.26, just off sire Gun Runner’s stakes record of 1:41.12 established in 2016.

“We broke well today,” Ortiz recapped, “and I was able to get him into a good position just off the lead. He’s a classy horse, and I just tried to keep his attention through the wire. He was pretty straightforward to ride today and finished up well.”

“He broke very well today,” Cox also noted, “which is something he didn’t do quite as well in the Derby. He was able to put himself right into the race, and he finished up very well with a big run.”

Further Ado paid $3.38 while improving is scorecard to 8-4-1-1, $1,446,958. Hero of last fall’s Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) at this track and trip, the chestnut was runner-up in his Tampa Bay Derby (G3) comeback. But he took a leap forward next time at Keeneland, the scene of his 20-length maiden conquest, to romp in the Blue Grass (G1) and ultimately become the 5.05-1 Derby favorite.

“We’ve had this race as a target after the Derby,” Cox said, “and he came into it training well. We felt like this was a good stepping stone to try something like the (July 18) Haskell (G1) at Monmouth next.”

The Haskell serves as a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), held this year at Keeneland.

Earlier at Churchill on Sunday, the $225,000 Leslie’s Lady S. witnessed a similar rebound by Explora, the fourth-placer in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). 

Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and ridden by Florent Geroux, Explora enjoyed the cutback to seven furlongs and set a new stakes record. In the process, she toppled Cox’s 0.96-1 favorite, On Time Girl, who was coming off a course-and-distance victory in the Eight Belles (G2).

Explora, the slight 1.03-1 second choice, led through splits of :22.72 and :45.07. Brooklyn Blonde forced the pace until she could no longer maintain her position turning for home.  On Time Girl then picked up the baton and drew to within a half-length in midstretch. 

But Explora found more to pull clear by 1 1/4 lengths. Shilling reported home another five lengths adrift in third, and Brooklyn Blonde tired to fourth in the six-filly field.

By clocking 1:21.16, Explora bettered the mark of 1:21.61 set by Kilwin last year. Kilwin went on to win the Test (G1) at Saratoga, and that’s the likely port of call for Explora.

“We were really confident she’d run well in the Oaks,” Baffert said, “but she got pressured the entire way. They went fast early, and she never really got a chance to get a breather. 

“I was debating about taking her to the Acorn (G1), but we decided to keep her one turn for now. We’ll probably take her to the (Aug. 8) Test Stakes at Saratoga after this.”

“Bob and his team did a great job to get this filly ready today ,” Geroux said, “and I just had to be a good passenger. Bob thought the cutback in distance would be a good fit for her today, and she proved that it was. She broke super alertly for me, and I was in a comfortable pace. When she felt (On Time Girl) on her outside, she was very game and wouldn’t let her pass by.”

Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman’s Explora has now bankrolled $1,259,415 from her 9-5-3-0 line. The Blame filly also captured the Oak Leaf (G2), Santa Ynez S., and Honeybee (G3) and placed second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), Del Mar Debutante (G1), and Las Virgenes S.